The process of overcoming the consequences of Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long and Chu Ngoc Anh in the Viet A case
Former Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long has paid most of the money received from Phan Quoc Viet. Meanwhile, the investigation conclusion has not recorded any payment of compensation by defendant Chu Ngoc Anh.
"Transforming" State research projects into Viet A's property
The Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Agency (C03) has issued a conclusion on the investigation and prosecution of the defendants in the Viet A "major case". Notably, among them are 3 former members of the Party Central Committee, including Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long (former Minister of Health), Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh (former Minister of Science and Technology, former Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee) and Mr. Pham Xuan Thang (former Secretary of Hai Duong).
The investigation concluded that the amount of illegal profit Viet A received in the case was 1,235 billion VND, the difference between the selling price and the production price. The investigation concluded that the defendant Phan Quoc Viet (Chairman of Viet A) and his accomplices must also be held responsible for the act.Bidding violationwith 1.2 million test kits causing damage to state assets of 400 billion VND.
This originated from Phan Quoc Viet, through many relationships, who "magically" transformed the Covid-19 test kit from state ownership (managed by the Ministry of Science and Technology) to Viet A's ownership.
Specifically, during the research process, Phan Quoc Viet colluded with Trinh Thanh Hung, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Economic and Technical Sectors, to allow Viet A Company to use the research results of the topic and prepare a registration dossier to send to the Ministry of Health. Phan Quoc Viet continued to ask Nguyen Van Trinh (officer of the Government Office) and Nguyen Thanh Long for support.
After that, Phan Quoc Viet bribed and gave commissions to many officials to win bids for many large test kit packages. The price of the test kits was inflated from VND143,000 to VND470,000/test kit, causing losses to the State and the people.
Remediation process
In the investigation conclusion, the police agency also mentioned the aggravating and mitigating circumstances of criminal responsibility. Accordingly, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long was assessed as "honestly confessing, repenting, actively cooperating with the investigation agency, having excellent achievements in work, and having paid back most of the money received from Phan Quoc Viet".
Regarding Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh, the investigation agency assessed: He confessed honestly, repented, actively cooperated with the investigation agency, and had excellent achievements in work (no record of paying compensation).
Regarding Mr. Pham Xuan Thang, the investigation concluded: He confessed honestly, repented, actively cooperated with the investigation agency, and had excellent achievements in his work. He has paid back all the money he received from Phan Quoc Viet and Pham Duy Tuyen.
In recent corruption and economic cases, the defendant's honest confession and payment of compensation for the consequences are considered important conditions for the panel of judges to consider when sentencing. In this major Viet A case, the majority of defendants were assessed by the investigating agency as having confessed honestly and actively cooperated with the investigating agency.