HCMC – Nguyen Van Trinh, assistant to Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, has been expelled from the Party due to degradation of morality and lifestyle, bribe taking, and violations of regulations and of the don’ts for Party members.
Trinh’s expulsion from the Party came after Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong chaired a meeting on December 16 of the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee to discuss disciplinary measures against some officials who committed wrongdoing.
Investigators at the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) late last month detained Nguyen Van Trinh on allegations that he had influenced the Ministry of Health’s decision to issue a registration number for Viet A Technology Corporation’s Covid-19 test kits.
Trinh was picked as assistant to Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam in December 2018 after he had served as secretary of the deputy PM and this position was equivalent to the head of a department under a ministry.
Investigators found that Trinh had used his power to intervene and influence certain responsible entities and individuals at the Ministry of Health to issue a registration number for circulation of Viet A’s Covid test kits. Almost all provinces and cities in the country bought Viet A’s Covid test kits at high prices during the height of the fourth wave of the Covid pandemic, which led to huge losses for the State.
At the meeting the Politburo decided to refer former Party Secretary of Dong Nai Province Tran Dinh Thanh to the Party Central Committee to consider sanctions against him over his violations of regulations.
Also expelled from the Party were Dinh Quoc Thai, former deputy secretary of the Dong Nai Province Party Committee and former chairman of the province; Bo Ngoc Thu, former director of Dong Nai’s Department of Planning and Investment; Phan Huy Anh Vu, director of the Dong Nai Department of Health and former director of Dong Nai General Hospital; Pham Thi Hang, former director of the Department of Education and Training of Thanh Hoa Province; Dinh Cam Van, former director of the Department of Finance of Thanh Hoa Province; and Nguyen Ba Hung, former deputy director of the Department of Finance of Thanh Hoa Province.