Former Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long was sentenced by the appeal court to a one-year reduction in prison compared to the first instance verdict, while defendant Phan Quoc Viet and several other defendants were sentenced by the court of appeal to the same extent as the first instance verdict.
The appeal court reduced the sentence of former Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long by one year compared to the first instance sentence, while the court upheld the first instance sentence for defendant Phan Quoc Viet and several other defendants. On the afternoon of May 17, the Appeals Council of the High People's Court in Hanoi announced the verdict for 11 defendants who appealed in the Viet A Company case.
Notably, by paying an additional VND1 billion to remedy the general consequences of the case, defendant Nguyen Thanh Long (former Minister of Health) had his sentence reduced to 17 years in prison (first instance verdict 18 years in prison for the crime of "Receiving bribes").
In addition, the Court of Appeal reduced the sentences of several other defendants: Nguyen Nam Lien (former Director of the Department of Financial Planning, Ministry of Health) 6 years and 3 months in prison (first instance sentence 7 years in prison); Pham Duy Tuyen (former Director of the Hai Duong Provincial CDC Center) 12 years in prison (first instance sentence 13 years in prison). Defendant Tran Thanh Phong (Deputy Head of the Finance and Accounting Department, Binh Duong CDC) was exempted from criminal liability because it was determined that the defendant had no motive for profit and did not benefit in this case. Previously, defendant Phong was sentenced by the Court of First Instance to 24 months in prison but was given a suspended sentence.
The two defendants given suspended sentences are: Nguy Thi Hau (former Deputy Head of the Finance and Planning Department, CDC Bac Giang) sentenced to 36 months in prison at first instance; Le Thi Hong Xuyen (employee of CDC Binh Duong) sentenced to 24 months in prison at first instance.
First instance verdict upheld for defendant Phan Quoc Viet
The Court of Appeal upheld the first instance sentence of defendant Phan Quoc Viet (General Director of Viet A Company) who was sentenced to 14 years in prison for "Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences" and 15 years in prison for "Giving bribes"; the total sentence for Viet is 29 years in prison.
Defendant Vu Dinh Hiep (Deputy General Director of Viet A Company) was sentenced at first instance to 7 years in prison for "Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences" and 8 years in prison for "Giving bribes"; the total sentence for Hiep is 15 years in prison.
Defendant Trinh Thanh Hung (former Deputy Director of the Ministry of Science and Technology) was sentenced to 14 years in prison for "Receiving bribes".
For the defendants who committed the crime of "Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences", the Court upheld the first instance sentence for: Tran Thi Hong (employee of Viet A Company) to 30 months in prison; Nguyen Truong Giang (General Director of VNDAT Company) to 30 months in prison.
The Court of Appeal found that the first instance judgment had fully considered the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and was correct in its judgment of the person, the crime, and the law. The defendants in this case had committed a series of violations to illegally gain an exceptionally large sum of money.
Phan Quoc Viet (General Director of Viet A Company) transformed the test kit from a State product into a Viet A product. In addition, Phan Quoc Viet also shared and bribed authorized individuals to create favorable conditions for the business.
The defendants at the trial. (Photo: Pham Kien/VNA)
Under Viet’s direction, Viet A’s Deputy General Director Vu Dinh Hiep also bribed the CDC leaders of the provinces. Defendant Nguyen Thanh Long took advantage of his position to facilitate Viet A. In addition, through his secretary, defendant Long received a bribe of 2.25 million USD from Phan Quoc Viet.
Specifically, the Appeals Council determined that former Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long knew that the Covid-19 test kit was a State project, but still created conditions for Viet A Company to commit illegal acts; and accepted a large bribe. The defendant was determined to have aggravating circumstances of committing the crime multiple times and was entitled to mitigating circumstances of honestly confessing, actively cooperating, and returning 2.25 million USD in bribes.
At the appeal hearing, defendant Long paid an additional 1 billion VND to remedy the general consequences of the case, paid all additional penalties, court fees, and stated that he had relatives who were awarded Medals and Resistance Medals, that he himself had made contributions, was the author of many State-level topics... In addition, he provided additional information about his medical history.
Regarding the defendant Phan Quoc Viet, the defendant paid an additional 200 million VND to remedy the consequences of the case and argued that the Court of First Instance's application of aggravating circumstances to the defendant was inappropriate, and the defendant confessed to the bribery to clarify the nature of the case. However, the Court of Appeal held that the defendant managed the entire operation of Viet A Company, causing a loss of more than 1,200 billion VND.
The court of first instance fully applied mitigating circumstances for the defendant such as honest confession, active cooperation... The appellate court upheld the first instance sentence of defendant Phan Quoc Viet (General Director of Viet A Company) to 14 years in prison for "Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences", 15 years in prison for "Giving bribes"; the total sentence is 29 years in prison.
Viet A Company appealed, requesting not to confiscate the amount of money determined to be illegally profited from selling test kits to organizations and individuals not considered for prosecution in the case. Viet A Company also requested that organizations that purchased test kits without going through the bidding process pay according to the signed contract.
Viet A Company also appealed, requesting the Court of Appeal to cancel the measures of freezing and restricting transactions on the bank accounts of this enterprise and companies in the Viet A system not related to the case...
Regarding the appeals of Viet A Company, the Court of Appeal rejected the appeals and recommended that the Investigation Police Agency consider measures to freeze and restrict transactions on the company's bank accounts.
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