Trial of defendants related to Viet A Company

Updated date: 05/23/2024 17:39:43

DTO - On May 22, 2024, Dong Thap Provincial People's Court opened the first-instance trial of the criminal case against 3 defendants: Tran Van Hai (born in 1963), residing in Hamlet 3, Ward 4, Cao Lanh City; Nguyen Thi Le Ngoc (born in 1983), residing in My Hung Hamlet, Ward 3, Cao Lanh City and Huynh Van Them (born in 1974), residing in My Phu Ward, Cao Lanh City for the crime of "Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences".

Defendants Tran Van Hai, Nguyen Thi Le Ngoc, Huynh Van Them (from left to right)

According to the indictment of the Provincial People's Procuracy, in his role as Director of CDC Dong Thap and representative of the investor, defendant Tran Van Hai discussed and agreed with defendant Them to borrow test kits (borrow goods) from Viet A Company before Dong Thap General Hospital and CDC Dong Thap signed the sales contract; directed and approved documents on borrowing goods drafted by defendant Nguyen Thi Le Ngoc; clearly knew that there were violations in the bidding packages invested by CDC Dong Thap but still directed subordinates to prepare documents, sign and approve the bidding package documents and payment documents for Viet A Company.

Defendant Nguyen Thi Le Ngoc, in her role as Deputy Head of the Department of Testing, Diagnostic Imaging, and Functional Exploration at CDC Dong Thap, a member of the Bidding Expert Team, discussed with employees of Viet A Company about selecting Viet A Company as the winning bidder and was promised by Viet A employees to "reward" and "thank" them, drafted documents to borrow goods and contacted Viet A employees to borrow and receive goods according to the direction of defendant Hai; did not hold meetings to review and evaluate the capacity of the bid packages.

Defendant Huynh Van Them, in his role as Head of the Financial Planning Department of Dong Thap Department of Health and Deputy Head of the Procurement Team, also contacted Viet A employees about selecting Viet A Company to win the bid; clearly knew that there were violations in the bid packages (borrowing goods in advance) but still advised and proposed competent authorities to approve and sign the procurement documents; exchanged instructions for defendant Tran Van Hai to borrow goods from Viet A Company; influenced units to quickly complete payment procedures for purchasing test kits for Viet A Company.

All three defendants Tran Van Hai, Nguyen Thi Le Ngoc and Huynh Van Them did not follow the bidding process in the shortened bidding of 6 packages invested by Dong Thap General Hospital and Dong Thap CDC, causing losses to the State of over 79 billion VND.

At the end of the trial, the Trial Panel sentenced the defendants Tran Van Hai to 2 years in prison; Nguyen Thi Le Ngoc to 1 year and 6 months in prison and Huynh Van Them to 1 year in prison. All were given suspended sentences for the crime of "Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences".

Phuoc Thanh

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