COVID-19 test kit case: 25-year sentence for Viet A company chairman
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Viet A Technologies JSC Phan Quoc Viet has been sentenced a total of 25 years in prison on charges of "abusing position and power while on duty" and “violating bidding regulations, causing serious damages”, in the COVID-19 test kit case at the Viet A Technologies JSC and the Vietnam Military Medical University (VMMU).
Hanoi (VNA) - Chairman of the Boardof Directors of Viet A Technologies JSC Phan Quoc Viet has been sentenced to a total of 25years in prison on charges of "abusing position and power while 𝔍on duty"and “violating bidding regulations, causing serious damages”, inthe COVID-19 test kit case at the Viet A Technologies JSC and the Vietnam Military MedicalUniversity (VMMU).
Themilitary court of Hanoi capital announced the verdict on December 29, followinga three-day trial and deliberation. Ho Anh Son, former Deputy Director of the MilitaryMedical Academy’s Institute of Biomedicine and Pharmacy, received a 12-yearprison sentence while former Director of the Department of Science and Technology forEconomic-Technical Sectors under the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST)Trinh Thang Hung was sentenced to 15 years in jail.
Four other defendants, charged with"violating bidding regulations, causing serious damages", faced jailsentences of between 4-7 years.
According to the indictment, amidst the COVID-19 outbreak,the Board of Directors of the VMMU sent a document to the MoST, proposing thetask of developing COVID-19 test kits.
The accused managed to engage the Viet ATechnologies JSC into the test kit development project worth nearly 19 billionVND (over 781,400 USD) and helped it get a licence to illegally produce thetest kits.
The൩ir wro💫ngdoings caused an economic loss ofnearly 18.5 billion VND (762,260 USD)./.
The Ministry of Public Security expects to complete the investigation into the COVID-19 test kit scam at Viet A Technologies JSC in the second quarter of this year, the ministry’s spokesperson Lieutenant General To An Xo said on May 5.
The Ministry of Public Security’s Investigation Police Agency has recently delivered its investigation conclusions and proposed the Supreme People's Procuracy prosecute 38 individuals involving in the COVID-19 test kit overcharging at Viet A company.
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Defendants at the court (Photo: VNA) 
