HCMC – Ministry of Public Security investigators have arrested Dinh Quoc Thai, former chairman of the People’s Committee of Dong Nai Province, and Tran Dinh Thanh, former secretary of the provincial Party Committee, for their alleged involvement in a bribery scandal.
The investigators, in coordination with the Dong Nai police, searched the houses of the two accused on October 18, the local media reported.
The arrests are the latest development of an expanded investigation into the alleged violations of bidding regulations that caused serious consequences at the Dong Nai General Hospital, Advanced International Joint Stock Company (AIC) and relevant units.
The ministry’s investigators on August 18 prosecuted and detained some individuals for allegedly violating bidding regulations that caused serious consequences at the Quang Ninh Province General Hospital and AIC.
In April this year, the investigators pressed charges against nine others over the same allegations.
According to the preliminary investigating results, the Dong Nai government issued Decision 1872, dated July 21, 2010, to approve a project to build the Dong Nai General Hospital, with a total investment of VND1,904 billion. The provincial government assigned the hospital to serve as the project’s investor.
During the project implementation, the accused were found to allegedly have colluded with each other to steeply increase the prices of equipment and committed fraud in bidding activities.
They had aimed to help AIC win 12 bidding packages worth VND476.87 billion, causing losses of VND152 billion to the State budget.
