38 defendants on trial in the Viet A mega-case.

The trial panel consists of five members: two judges and three people's assessors. Judge Tran Nam Ha presides over the trial.

The representatives of the People's Procuracy of Hanoi participating in the trial included prosecutors: Dang Thi Hong Thuy, Nguyen Thi Lan, Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang, Do Duong Toan, and Tran The Linh.

The court summoned 140 people and parties with related rights and obligations. However, only 39 individuals and representatives of organizations were present.

Many provincial Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were summoned to the trial and were present, including representatives from the CDC of Hai Duong, CDC of Binh Duong, CDC of Nghe An, CDC of Yen Bai , CDC of Ha Giang, etc.

Representatives from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science and Technology were summoned to the trial as participants in the proceedings, representing parties with related rights and obligations.

In this case, 38 defendants were prosecuted by the Supreme People's Procuratorate for the following crimes: Violating regulations on bidding causing serious consequences; Violating regulations on the management of state assets causing losses and waste; Giving bribes; Receiving bribes; Abusing position and power while performing official duties; Abusing influence over persons in positions of power for personal gain.

Among them, two defendants were prosecuted by the Supreme People's Procuracy for two crimes: "Violating regulations on bidding causing serious consequences" and "Giving bribes," namely: Phan Quoc Viet (Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Viet A Company; Viet was recently sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Hanoi Military Court, the sentence is not yet legally effective); and Vu Dinh Hiep (Deputy General Director of Viet A Company; Hiep was recently sentenced to 6 years in prison by the Hanoi Military Court, the sentence is not yet legally effective).

Six defendants were prosecuted for "receiving bribes," including: Trinh Thanh Hung (former Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology for Economic and Technical Sectors, Ministry of Science and Technology; Hung was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Hanoi Military Court, the sentence not yet legally effective), Nguyen Thanh Long (former Minister of Health), Nguyen Huynh (former Deputy Head of the Drug Price Management Department, Drug Administration of Vietnam, Ministry of Health), Nguyen Minh Tuan (former Director of the Department of Medical Equipment and Facilities, Ministry of Health), Nguyen Nam Lien (former Director of the Planning and Finance Department, Ministry of Health), and Pham Duy Tuyen (former Director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) of Hai Duong province).

The two defendants, Chu Ngoc Anh (former Minister of Science and Technology) and Pham Cong Tac (former Deputy Minister of Science and Technology), are both prosecuted for the crime of "Violating regulations on the management and use of state assets causing losses and waste."

Three defendants were prosecuted for "Abusing their position and authority while performing official duties": Nguyen Van Trinh (former Assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister), Pham Xuan Thang (former Secretary of the Hai Duong Provincial Party Committee), and Pham Manh Cuong (former Director of the Hai Duong Provincial Department of Health).

The two defendants, Pham Ton Noel Thao (Assistant to the Finance Department, Viet A Company) and Ho Thi Thanh Thao (Treasurer of Viet A Company), are being prosecuted for the crime of "Giving bribes".

The two defendants, Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy (former specialist at Vietnam Education Publishing House) and Nguyen Bach Thuy Linh (Director of SNB Holdings One-Member Limited Liability Company), are both prosecuted for the crime of "Abusing influence over persons holding positions of power to gain illicit profits".

The remaining 21 defendants were also prosecuted for the crime of "Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences," including 3 employees of Viet A Company: Tran Thi Hong, Le Trung Nguyen, and Tran Tien Luc; Nguyen Manh Cuong (former Chief Accountant of Hai Duong CDC), Nguyen Thi Trang (former Director of the Financial Consulting and Services Center, Hai Duong Department of Finance), Lam Van Tuan (former Director of Bac Giang CDC), Nguy Thi Hau (former Deputy Head of the Finance and Planning Department, Bac Giang CDC), Phan Huy Van (Director of Phan Anh Medical Supplies and Pharmaceutical Company - Bac Giang), Phan Thi Khanh Van (freelancer), Vu Van Doanh (Director of Thang Long Valuation Company), Ta Ngoc Chuc (Director of Toan Cau Valuation and Investment Company), Nguyen Van Dinh (former Director of Nghe An CDC), Nguyen Thi Hong Tham (former Chief Accountant of Nghe An CDC), Ho Cong Hieu (appraiser at Southern Information and Valuation Joint Stock Company, Nghe An Branch), Nguyen Thanh Danh (former Director of Binh Duong CDC), Tieu Quoc Cuong (former Chief Accountant, former Deputy Head of the Planning and Finance Department, Binh Duong Department of Health), Le Thi Hong Xuyen (employee of Binh Duong CDC), Tran Thanh Phong (Deputy Head of Finance and Accounting Department, CDC Binh Duong), Nguyen Truong Giang (General Director of VNDAT Company), Nguyen Thi Thuy (Project Director of VNDAT Company), Ninh Van Sinh (former Deputy Director of Trung Tin Valuation Joint Stock Company).

Irregularities in the sale of test kits resulted in a loss of 402 billion VND to the State budget.

According to the indictment of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, when COVID-19 broke out, taking advantage of the State's policy of assigning units to proactively research and manufacture biological products to serve the prevention and control of the epidemic, Phan Quoc Viet colluded with the defendants who held positions of power and authority at the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Health, and the Government Office to allow Viet A Company to participate in the implementation of a National-level research project on testing kits, with the Ministry of Science and Technology as the owner. Through various schemes, the defendants committed a series of violations, transforming the testing kits from a research product of the State-owned project into a product owned by Viet A Company, producing and selling them commercially nationwide at inflated prices, thereby reaping exceptionally large illicit profits.

Phan Quoc Viet colluded with Trinh Thanh Hung, who influenced Chu Ngoc Anh and Pham Cong Tac to allow Viet A Company to illegally collaborate on a research project to manufacture and produce test kits. With the aim of producing and selling test kits for illicit profit, Viet continued to collude with Trinh Thanh Hung, Nguyen Thanh Long, and many other defendants to commit numerous violations, helping Viet A Company obtain test kit certification and the first phase of the project to prepare documents for submission to the Ministry of Health for temporary and official registration, transforming the test kit from a state-owned product into a product owned by Viet A Company.

To facilitate the nationwide sale of testing kits, Viet colluded with defendants from the Ministry of Science and Technology to secure commendations to enhance the image and brand of the testing kits; he also colluded with defendants from the Ministry of Health to negotiate inflated prices, delaying price verification to create a price benchmark for testing kits; and he introduced himself to provincial and city leaders to commercially sell testing kits for illicit profit.

In order to receive the intervention and assistance from his accomplices as described above, Phan Quoc Viet agreed to share the profits and give bribes and thank-you money on multiple occasions, totaling 3.45 million USD and 4 billion VND.

Specifically, Phan Quoc Viet bribed Trinh Thanh Hung twice with a total of 350,000 USD (equivalent to over 8 billion VND); Viet directly and instructed subordinates to bribe the defendants at the Ministry of Health, namely Nguyen Thanh Long, Nguyen Huynh, Nguyen Minh Tuan (former head of the Department of Medical Equipment and Facilities, Ministry of Health), and Nguyen Nam Lien (former head of the Planning and Finance Department, Ministry of Health), with a total of 2.65 million USD (equivalent to over 60 billion VND) and 4 billion VND.

During the testing kit sales period, Phan Quoc Viet bribed Pham Duy Tuyen, the director of the Hai Duong CDC, with 27 billion VND.

The investigation determined that Viet A Company spent nearly 365 billion VND to purchase raw materials, plus other costs, taxes, and a 5% profit margin, bringing the cost of one test kit to over 143,000 VND.

However, Viet A Company inflated the price many times over and received approval from the Ministry of Health during price negotiations, allowing them to sell the test kits on the market for 470,000 VND per kit.

The prosecuting authorities determined that, when committing illegal acts that benefited Viet A, Chu Ngoc Anh received $200,000 from Phan Quoc Viet; Pham Cong Tac received $50,000; Trinh Thanh Hung received $350,000; and Nguyen Van Trinh received $200,000.

The indictment concluded that the total amount of bribes given by Viet was over 106 billion VND. Viet's actions caused losses exceeding 1,235 billion VND; of which, the State budget suffered losses of 402 billion VND.

The trial is expected to last 20 days.

Source link