38 defendants appear in court in Viet A case

On the morning of January 3, the Hanoi People's Court opened the first-instance trial of 38 defendants in the case that occurred at Viet A Technology Joint Stock Company (Viet A Company), the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and related units and organizations.

In this case, 38 defendants were prosecuted by the Supreme People's Procuracy for the following crimes: violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences; violating regulations on state asset management causing waste and loss; giving bribes; receiving bribes; taking advantage of positions and powers while performing official duties; taking advantage of influence over people with positions and powers for personal gain.

Among them, there are 2 defendants prosecuted by the Supreme People's Procuracy for 2 crimes of "violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences" and "giving bribes" including: Phan Quoc Viet (Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director of Viet A Company; Viet was just sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Hanoi Military Court, the sentence has not yet taken legal effect); Vu Dinh Hiep (Deputy General Director of Viet A Company; Hiep was just sentenced to 6 years in prison by the Hanoi Military Court, the sentence has not yet taken legal effect).

Six defendants were prosecuted for “receiving bribes” including: Trinh Thanh Hung (former Deputy Director, Department of Science and Technology of 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 has not yet taken legal effect), Nguyen Thanh Long (former Minister of Health), Nguyen Huynh (former Deputy Head of the Drug Price Management Department, Department of Drug Administration, Ministry of Health), Nguyen Minh Tuan (former Director of the Department of Medical Equipment and Construction, Ministry of Health), Nguyen Nam Lien (former Director of the Department of Financial Planning, Ministry of Health), Pham Duy Tuyen (former Director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) of Hai Duong province).

Two defendants: Chu Ngoc Anh (former Minister of Science and Technology) and Pham Cong Tac (former Deputy Minister of Science and Technology) were prosecuted for the crime of "Violating regulations on management and use of state assets, causing loss and waste.

Nguyen Van Trinh (former Assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister), Pham Manh Cuong (former Director of the Department of Health of Hai Duong province)... were prosecuted for the crime of "Abusing position and power while performing official duties".

Two defendants: Pham Ton Noel Thao (Assistant to Finance, Viet A Company), Ho Thi Thanh Thao (Treasurer of Viet A Company) were prosecuted for the crime of "giving bribes."

Two defendants: Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy (former specialist of Vietnam Education Publishing House), Nguyen Bach Thuy Linh (Director of SNB Holdings One Member Limited Liability Company) were prosecuted for the crime of "taking advantage of influence over people with positions and powers for personal gain."

The remaining 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, Tran Tien Luc; Lam Van Tuan (former Director of CDC Bac Giang), Nguy Thi Hau (former Deputy Head of Finance and Planning Department, CDC Bac Giang), Phan Huy Van (Director of Phan Anh-Bac Giang Pharmaceutical and Medical Supplies Company), Phan Thi Khanh Van (freelance), Vu Van Doanh (Director of Thang Long Valuation Company), Ta Ngoc Chuc (Director of Global Valuation and Investment Company), Nguyen Van Dinh (former Director of CDC Nghe An), Nguyen Thi Hong Tham (former Chief Accountant of CDC Nghe An), Ho Cong Hieu (appraiser of Southern Information and Valuation Joint Stock Company, Nghe An Branch), Nguyen Thanh Danh (former Director of CDC Binh Duong), Tieu Quoc Cuong (former Chief Accountant, former Deputy Head of Financial Planning Department, Binh Duong Department of Health), Le Thi Hong Xuyen (employee of CDC Binh Duong), 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 Company VNDAT), Ninh Van Sinh (former Deputy Director of Trung Tin Valuation Joint Stock Company)...

Transfer of state assets to private companies

According to the indictment of the Supreme People's Procuracy, in 2020, COVID-19 broke out, so the Government assigned the Ministry of Science and Technology to actively research and manufacture biological products to prevent the epidemic. After that, the research on COVID-19 test kits was assigned to the Military Medical Academy with a budget of 18.9 billion VND.

Due to their relationship, Phan Quoc Viet colluded with Trinh Thanh Hung to influence Viet A Company to participate with the Military Medical Academy in implementing this project.

Defendant Chu Ngoc Anh (then Minister of Science and Technology) signed the decision agreeing to this. This research result is a State asset, represented by the Minister of Science and Technology, but defendant Chu Ngoc Anh and his subordinate, Deputy Minister Pham Cong Tac, allowed Viet A Company to register ownership of it.

The prosecution agency determined that when doing illegal acts but beneficial to Viet A, Chu Ngoc Anh received 200,000 USD from Phan Quoc Viet; Pham Cong Tac received 50,000 USD and Trinh Thanh Hung received 350,000 USD.

Therefore, defendants Chu Ngoc Anh and Pham Cong Tac were prosecuted for "abusing positions and powers while performing official duties" and Trinh Thanh Hung was prosecuted for "receiving bribes."

Help Viet A produce and sell test kits to the market

The next violation occurred at the Ministry of Health during the process of licensing the circulation of test kits for Viet A Company. The indictment shows that Phan Quoc Viet used the research results with the Military Medical Academy to register with the Ministry of Health, so that Viet A Company could commercially produce and sell them on the market.

At that time, defendant Nguyen Van Trinh (former Deputy Prime Minister's Assistant) took advantage of his position to instruct Phan Quoc Viet to draft documents related to licensing; influenced people at the Ministry of Health to help Viet. Thanks to that, defendant Trinh received 200,000 USD from Viet and was prosecuted for the crime of "Abusing position and power while performing official duties."

In addition, a number of defendants who were then leaders and officials of the Ministry of Health were also accused of accepting bribes and violating regulations to help Viet A Company be allowed to produce test kits and sell them commercially, including defendants Nguyen Thanh Long (then Deputy Minister of Health) who received 2.25 million USD; Nguyen Huynh received 4 billion VND; Nguyen Minh Tuan received 300,000 USD; Nguyen Nam Lien received 100,000 USD.

Violations in bidding

The remaining violation is a violation in bidding that occurred when Viet A Company sold test kits at high prices to many agencies across the country. During this process, Phan Quoc Viet also bribed a series of defendants who were in authority.

The indictment stated that a Viet A test kit costs only 143,000 VND, including all costs and a 5% profit. However, Phan Quoc Viet sells it at a much higher price.

In total, more than 4.5 million test kits were sold by Viet A Company, causing a loss of VND 1,235 billion, of which VND 402 billion was caused to the State. Of this VND 402 billion loss, VND 222 billion was caused by the CDCs of Hai Duong, Bac Giang, Nghe An, and Binh Duong provinces during the purchase and consumption of Viet A Company's test kits. The other 15 provinces and cities caused a loss of VND 180 billion.

Violations in the process of buying and selling test kits

In this case, the Procuracy accused the two defendants Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy (former specialist of the Vietnam Education Publishing House) and Nguyen Bach Thuy Linh (Director of SNB Holdings Company) of taking advantage of their influence with "authorized persons in state agencies," asking Capital Company (of Singapore) to buy test kits worth 1 million USD (23.5 billion VND) from Viet A to donate to the Vietnam Fatherland Front for use in epidemic prevention and control.

From this, Phan Quoc Viet paid 40% of the "commission" to Thuy and Linh, equivalent to more than 8 billion VND. The Procuracy prosecuted Thuy and Linh for the same crime of "Taking advantage of influence over people with positions and powers for personal gain."

The trial is expected to last 20 days.