AIC General Director Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The defendants listen to the judge announce the verdict. (Photo: Pham Kien/VNA)

After two weeks of trial and deliberation, on the morning of January 4, the People's Court of Hanoi sentenced defendant Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan (Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and General Director of AIC Company) and 35 defendants in the case of violating bidding regulations, abusing positions and powers, lack of responsibility causing serious consequences, giving and receiving bribes that occurred atDong Nai General Hospital, AIC Company and related units.

The trial panel sentenced defendant Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan (born in 1969, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and General Director of AIC Company) to 16 years in prison for "violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences" and 14 years in prison for "giving bribes." The total sentence for defendant Nhan is 30 years in prison.

Defendant Tran Manh Ha (born in 1971, Deputy General Director of AIC Company) was sentenced by the court to 13 years in prison for "Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences" and 12 years in prison for "Giving bribes." The total sentence for defendant Ha is 25 years in prison.

Defendant Tran Dinh Thanh (born in 1955, former Secretary of Dong Nai Provincial Party Committee) was sentenced to 11 years in prison; defendant Dinh Quoc Thai (born in 1959, former Chairman of Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee) was sentenced to 9 years in prison for the same crime of "Accepting bribes."

Defendant Phan Huy Anh Vu (born in 1967, former Director of Dong Nai General Hospital, Director of Dong Nai Provincial Department of Health) was sentenced to 10 years in prison for "Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences" and 9 years in prison for "Accepting bribes." The total sentence for defendant Vu is 19 years in prison.

Defendant Bo Ngoc Thu (born in 1960, former Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Dong Nai province) was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison for the crime of "Abusing position and power while performing official duties."

Defendant Trinh Huy Cuong (born in 1975, Head of Construction Management Department - Dong Nai Department of Construction, former Deputy Director of Dong Nai Construction Inspection and Consulting Center) was sentenced to 30 months in prison, but given a suspended sentence for the crime of "Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences."

The remaining defendants were sentenced by the court for the same crime of "Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences" including: Hoang Thi Thuy Nga (born in 1975, Deputy General Director of AIC Company) 12 years in prison, Phan Minh Tri (born in 1979, Head of Administration Department of Dong Nai Hospital) 6 years and 6 months in prison, Nguyen Thi Nhung (born in 1960, former Deputy Director in charge of Dong Nai Construction Consulting Center - now Dong Nai Construction Planning and Inspection Consulting Center) 4 years and 6 months, Do Van Son (born in 1977, former Chief Accountant of Tien Bo Quoc Te Joint Stock Company) 6 years in prison.

The two defendants Do My Hanh (born in 1982, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Cat Van Sa Company), Nguyen Cong Tien (born in 1965, General Director of New Generation Construction Investment Consulting and Valuation Joint Stock Company) were both sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Four defendants: Ninh Van Sinh (born in 1979, Valuation specialist of New Generation Valuation Company); Hoang The Quynh (born in 1985, employee of AIC Company); Ngo The Vinh (born in 1965, Director of Viet Tien Company); Nguyen Thi Tich (born in 1962, General Director of Mopha Company) were all sentenced to 4 years in prison.

Four defendants: Nguyen Thi Dung (born in 1954, General Director of Mediconsult Vietnam Company); Vu Quang Ngoc (born in 1981, former Deputy Director of Medicosult Vietnam Company); Ngo Quang Vinh (born in 1975, engineer of Dong Nai Construction Investment Project Management Board); Nguyen Thanh Thai (born in 1987, employee of Dong Nai Construction Consulting Center) were all sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison.

Four defendants: Nguyen Tien Thu (born in 1987, employee of AIC Company), Le Thi Bich Thuy (born in 1980, Director of TNT Company), Le Chi Tuan (born in 1980, Head of the Documentation Team - Project Management Board 1 of AIC Company), Le Thi Huong (born in 1983, former Deputy Head of Accounting Department of AIC Company) were all sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Six defendants: Nguyen Quang Minh (born in 1986, employee of AIC Company), Luu Van Phuong (born in 1983, Engineer, former employee of AIC Company); Nguyen Tan Sy (born in 1982, former employee of TCI Company); Nguyen Dang Thuyet (born in 1970, former Director of Thanh An Hanoi Company); Huynh Tuan Anh (born in 1984, Director of Ta Thien An Company); Nguyen Thi Sen (born in 1984, former Director of Medical Equipment and Environment Company) were all sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Three defendants: Cao Thi Tam (born in 1964, former Head of Bidding Consulting Department - Dong Nai Construction Consulting Center - Dong Nai Provincial Department of Construction); Phan Thanh An (born in 1973, former Head of Project Management - Bidding Department - Dong Nai Provincial Construction Consulting and Inspection Center); Chu Van Hieu (born in 1966, Deputy Director of the Center for Industrial Promotion and Industrial Development Consulting, Dong Nai Provincial Department of Industry and Trade) were all sentenced to 36 months in prison but given a suspended sentence.

Two defendants: Le Lam Dong (born in 1977, specialist of the Urban Management Department of Bien Hoa City, former employee of the Project Management-Bidding Department of the Dong Nai Construction Inspection and Consulting Center); Nguyen Van Bang (born in 1970, former Director of Tam Hop Company) were both sentenced to 30 months in prison but given a suspended sentence.

Defendants who receive suspended sentences are released by the Trial Council immediately in court if they are not detained in another case.

The first instance judgment determined that this was an especially serious case, the defendants' actions violated the State's management regulations on bidding, causing great damage to State assets, and it was necessary to apply strict penalties, commensurate with the level of the defendants' crimes, in order to warn, deter and improve the quality of the fight against crime in the current period.

The trial panel assessed that in this case, the defendant Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan had fled abroad, and the investigation agency had issued a special international arrest warrant but without results.

Based on the statements of the defendants: Tran Dinh Thanh, Dinh Quoc Thai, Bo Ngoc Thu, Phan Huy Anh Vu, Hoang The Quynh, Le Chi Tuan, Nguyen Quang Minh, Nguyen Tien Thu, Luu Van Phuong; statements of the Directors and employees of the "blue team" companies; the conclusion of the forensic examination of the Institute of Criminal Science of the Ministry of Public Security on the signature under the name of Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan and other documents and evidence in the case file..., the Trial Panel determined that Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan directed a number of Deputy General Directors and subordinate employees to contact and coordinate with the investor, consulting units, and price appraisal units to carry out acts of collusion, fraud in bidding, restricting or eliminating competition in bidding to help AIC Company win 16 bid packages (2 construction equipment bid packages and 14/17 specialized medical equipment bid packages) causing damage to the State in 14/16 bid packages of more than 148 billion VND.

Defendant Dinh Quoc Thai, former Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Nai province, listens to the judge's verdict. (Photo: Pham Kien/VNA)

After winning the bid, Nhan colluded with Phan Huy Anh Vu to adjust the contract penalty, causing a loss of more than 3.5 billion VND. The total loss to the State was more than 152 billion VND.

Among the defendants of AIC Company, defendant Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, as Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and General Director of the Company, was the mastermind, leader, and directer of the employees to commit the crime. Defendant Nhan then fled, causing difficulties for the investigation of the case. The court determined that Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan was the first defendant in the case and must receive the highest penalty among the defendants.

Defendant Tran Manh Ha (Deputy General Director of AIC Company) played the second role and received a lower sentence than defendant Nhan.

Regarding defendant Tran Dinh Thanh, the Trial Panel concluded that, in his capacity as Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, defendant Thanh repeatedly received a total of VND 14.5 billion from Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan to direct and influence Dinh Quoc Thai, Bo Ngoc Thu, and Phan Huy Anh Vu to create conditions for AIC Company to win 16 medical equipment bid packages at the request of Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, causing a loss of more than VND 148 billion to the State. The actions of defendant Tran Dinh Thanh, who was prosecuted by the Procuracy for the crime of "receiving bribes", were well-founded, against the right person, the right crime, and the right law.

In addition to the aggravating circumstance of committing the crime multiple times, the Trial Panel also considered that the defendant Thanh had many mitigating circumstances such as honest confession, repentance, proactive cooperation, providing valuable information to the investigation agency to quickly clarify the case, the defendant's family returned all the bribe money, the defendant Tran Dinh Thanh is the son of a Vietnamese Heroic Mother, the defendant has two brothers who are martyrs, before committing the crime he had many outstanding achievements in work, old age, poor health... so the sentence should be considered for a reduction.

The court determined that defendant Dinh Quoc Thai had repeatedly received from defendants Nhan and Ha a total of 14.5 billion VND to sign decisions approving and adjusting the Project; approving the Project bidding plan in violation of the law and influencing Phan Huy Anh Vu to create conditions for AIC Company to win 16 bidding packages in violation of the law, causing losses to the State of more than 148 billion VND. Dinh Quoc Thai's actions constituted the crime of "receiving bribes."

During the investigation, Dinh Quoc Thai honestly confessed his crime, cooperated with the investigation agency, the defendant's family returned all the bribe money, before committing the crime, Dinh Quoc Thai had many excellent achievements in work, poor health... so his sentence was considered to be reduced.

The trial panel determined that defendant Thai played a lower role than defendant Thanh in directing the execution of the case, so the sentence was lower than defendant Thanh's, demonstrating the leniency of the law.

Defendant Tran Dinh Thanh, former Secretary of Dong Nai Provincial Party Committee, listens to the judge's verdict. (Photo: Pham Kien/VNA)

Regarding former Director of Dong Nai General Hospital Phan Huy Anh Vu, the Trial Panel determined that defendant Vu had received 14.8 billion VND many times from two defendants Nhan and Ha.

Defendant Vu directly directed defendant Phan Minh Tri to commit bid collusion to help AIC Company win 16 bid packages in violation of the law, causing a loss of VND152 billion to the State. Defendant Vu has aggravating circumstances of committing multiple crimes and committing crimes multiple times.

However, the Trial Panel considered that the crime committed by the defendant Vu was partly due to pressure from his superiors, the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Nai Province. The defendant himself is a doctor and is in charge of a construction investment project that is not within the defendant Vu's expertise, so mistakes cannot be avoided... Therefore, the court decided to consider reducing the sentence, allowing the defendant Vu to enjoy leniency under the law.

According to the first instance judgment, the Dong Nai General Hospital Construction Investment Project was approved in 2007, with a total investment of more than VND 889 billion, including construction and installation costs and equipment accompanying construction and installation.

In 2010, the project was re-approved with a total investment of VND 1,904 billion, including construction and installation costs, equipment accompanying construction and installation, and specialized medical equipment (items added to the project).

After that, after 5 times of approval adjustment, the project had a total investment capital of 2,076 billion VND. During the project implementation, the Provincial People's Committee issued 4 decisions approving the bidding plan for 70 packages; including 9 packages of equipment with construction and installation (packages 7 and 56), 17 packages of specialized medical equipment (packages 52 and from 64 to 79).

In fact, the project is divided into 123 packages, including 17 specialized medical equipment packages. The project started on November 27, 2008, completed on January 30, 2018 and was approved by the People's Committee of Dong Nai province for a settlement of more than 1,977 billion VND.

Of the 26 packages approved by the People's Committee of Dong Nai province for the above bidding plan (9 packages of equipment with construction and installation and 17 packages of specialized medical equipment), AIC Company participated in the bidding and won all 16 packages, including: 2 packages of equipment with construction and installation (packages No. 7, 56) and 14 packages of specialized medical equipment (packages No. 52, 64, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77). Of which, AIC Company won 12 packages, appointed other companies to stand in its name and won 4 packages.

To facilitate the winning of medical equipment bids at Dong Nai General Hospital, defendant Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan directed defendant Hoang Thi Thuy Nga (Deputy General Director of AIC Company) and staff to purchase Bidding Documents, prepare Bidding Documents for both the "red team" Company and the "blue team" Company to submit Bidding Documents in sufficient quantity as prescribed so that AIC Company could win 16 medical equipment bids.

During the contract implementation process, Nhan signed and directed defendant Tran Manh Ha (Deputy General Director of AIC Company) to sign contract appendices adjusting contract penalty clauses contrary to regulations, causing damage of more than 3.5 billion VND.

With the above method of Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, AIC Company and the companies designated by AIC Company participated in 16/19 medical equipment bidding packages and won all 16 bidding packages with a total value of more than 665 billion VND. Of which: AIC Company won 12 bidding packages, the rest were "blue team" companies such as BMS Company, TNT... signed contracts to implement 4 bidding packages with the investor, but in fact AIC Company supplied all the equipment for these bidding packages and received back all the money the investor paid to the "blue team" companies.

According to VNA