HCMC – Investigators of the Ministry of Public Security have filed charges against Nguyen Quang Tuan, incumbent director of the Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, for his alleged involvement in the price gouging of medical equipment at the Hanoi Heart Hospital, where Tuan used to serve as director.
On October 21, lieutenant general To An Xo, chief of the office of the Ministry of Public Security, said Tuan was charged with allegedly violating bidding regulations, causing serious consequences. He is now under house arrest, the local media reported.
On the same day, investigators raided his house and banned him from leaving his residence.
Relating to the case, Nguyen Duc Dang, chairman of Hoang Nga Medical Equipment JSC, was also detained and prosecuted for the same charge as Tuan.
These were the latest developments of an investigation into violations of regulations on bidding of medical equipment and supplies, including cardiovascular consumable supplies, at the Hanoi Heart Hospital and the relevant units in 2015.
According to the ministry’s Investigative Police Agency, after investigating two packages to purchase medical equipment and supplies at the hospital, the probe found multiple violations, causing losses of more than VND40 billion for the State.
Earlier, many of Tuan’s subordinates had been arrested, including Hoang Thi Ngoc Huong, former deputy director of the Hanoi Heart Hospital; Nguyen Thi Dung Hanh, ex-chief accountant of the hospital; and Doan Trong Binh and Nghiem Tuan Linh, former deputy head of the hospital’s medical equipment and supply department.
In addition, Tran Phu Hung, general director of AIC Vietnam Co., Ltd; Nguyen Hong Dung, deputy general director of the company; and Nguyen Trung Dung, an employee of the company, faced the same fate.
On October 21, the Minister of Health suspended Tuan from his post until the Investigative Police Agency issued findings on the case.
Tuan, 54, was picked as director of the Hanoi Heart Hospital in 2012. In March 2020, he became the director of the Bach Mai Hospital. He was also a deputy of the 14th National Assembly.
In late July, he led a team of medical workers of the Bach Mai Hospital to HCMC to support the city’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. He was assigned as director of the intensive care unit at the field hospital No. 16 in District 7.
