Former Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long to appear in appeal court

The appeal hearing took place in 3 days.

On May 15, the High People's Court in Hanoi is scheduled to hear the appeal of 12 defendants in the case involving Viet A Company and several ministries and localities. The trial is expected to last for 3 days.

Previously, in January 2024, the Hanoi People's Court held a first-instance trial and sentenced 38 defendants to prison in a case of "Giving bribes; Receiving bribes; Violating bidding causing serious consequences; Taking advantage of positions and powers while performing official duties; Taking advantage of influence with people in positions for personal gain...

Accordingly, the court of first instance sentenced Phan Quoc Viet (Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director of Viet A Company) to a total of 29 years in prison for the two crimes of "Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences" and "Giving bribes"; Vu Dinh Hiep received a total of 15 years in prison.

Former Minister Nguyen Thanh Long was sentenced to 18 years in prison for "Accepting bribes"; Trinh Thanh Hung was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the same crime; Nguyen Huynh (former Deputy Head of the Drug Price Management Department, Department of Drug Administration, Ministry of Health) was sentenced to 9 years in prison; Nguyen Minh Tuan (former Director of the Department of Medical Equipment and Construction, Ministry of Health) was sentenced to 8 years in prison; Nguyen Nam Lien (former Director of the Department of Financial Planning, Ministry of Health) was sentenced to 7 years in prison; Pham Duy Tuyen (former Director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) of Hai Duong province) was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh (former Minister of Science and Technology) and Pham Cong Tac (former Deputy Minister) were each sentenced to 3 years in prison for "Violating regulations on management and use of State assets, causing loss and waste".

The remaining defendants were sentenced to sentences ranging from 22 months in prison, suspended, to seven years in prison.

Former Minister and many former officials ask for sentence reduction

The case file determined that in 2020 and 2021, Viet A Company produced a total of more than 8.7 million test kits and sold more than 8.3 million kits to medical units and facilities across the country.

This enterprise was paid more than 4.5 million test kits with a total amount of 2,250 billion VND.

The investigation results determined that Viet A Company spent nearly 365 billion VND to buy raw materials, plus other expenses, taxes and 5% profit, the production cost of 1 test kit was more than 143,000 VND. However, Viet A Company raised the price many times and was approved by the Ministry of Health during price negotiations, to sell on the market at 470,000 VND/1 test kit.

The prosecution agency concluded that Viet A Company illegally profited 1,235 billion VND, causing losses to the State of more than 432 billion VND.

To obtain a commercial production license, Viet A General Director Phan Quoc Viet and his accomplices bribed former officials with hundreds of billions of VND. Of which, former Minister Nguyen Thanh Long was bribed with 2.25 million USD; Chu Ngoc Anh was given 200,000 USD...

According to the Trial Panel, each defendant in the case is a "link", forming a long chain of violations. In which, Phan Quoc Viet is the mastermind, directing the whole thing.

After the first instance trial, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long, Phan Quoc Viet, Trinh Thanh Hung, Pham Duy Tuyen (former Director of CDC Hai Duong), Nguyen Nam Lien (former Director of the Department of Financial Planning of the Ministry of Health)... filed an appeal to reduce the sentence.

Viet A Company also filed an appeal requesting not to confiscate and transfer to the state budget the amount of money determined to be illegally profited from selling test kits to organizations and individuals not considered for prosecution in the case.

This company also requires organizations that buy its testing products without going through a bidding process to pay according to the signed contract...

In addition, a number of individuals with related rights and obligations also appealed, requesting the Court of Appeal to review the related assets.