HCMC – Nguyen Tran Tuan, director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) of the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang, has been arrested for allegedly taking bribes from Viet A Technology Corporation.
Investigators of the Ha Giang Police Department on May 11 also filed charges against Phan Thi Nga, head of the CDC’s testing division, and To Minh Hue, chief accountant of the CDC, the local media reported.
According to investigators, the trio received bribes totaling over VND1 billion. They handed over the money to the provincial police.
When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, many units in Ha Giang’s healthcare sector also borrowed Covid test kits before inviting tenders to choose suppliers. For example, the Yen Minh General Hospital borrowed over 19,000 test kits worth over VND4.6 billion from Viet A; the Bac Quang General Hospital borrowed 1,250 test kits from Binh Minh Pharmaceutical and Medical Equipment JSC and Ha Giang Pharmaceutical United Company Limited; and the Ha Giang CDC borrowed 77,000 test kits from Viet A and 22,900 test kits from the Ha Giang Pharmaceutical United Company Limited.
During the test kit procurement, Tuan and his two subordinates failed to comply with the law on bidding, causing losses to the State budget.
From February 10 to March 29, Ha Giang inspectors launched an inspection into six units: the provincial Department of Health, the General Hospital, the CDC, the medical centers and general hospitals in Vi Xuyen, Yen Minh and Bac Quang districts, and found violations that caused losses of over VND4.5 billion.
Inspectors asked the relevant individuals and organizations to hand over the amount to the State budget.
Provincial inspectors also pointed out multiple violations in 87 packages to procure medical equipment and supplies for the pandemic response in 2020-2021.
VND101.6 billion was approved for these packages, and contracts for these packages were valued at VND94 billion.
After inspecting 60 of the 87 packages, contractors for 21 packages were chosen in violation of the plans approved by the provincial government and the Department of Health.
In addition, two packages were cancelled as no contractors were interested in the bidding. However, the investors of the two packages did not submit other bidding plans for approval or reappraise the prices of products but chose the contractors in line with the previously-approved plans.
In 16 packages, the dossiers’ formulation, appraisal, and approval went against the regulations.
