HCMC – Huynh Van Dong, director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Khanh Hoa Province, and Tran Quoc Huy, head of the center’s Administrative Office, have been charged with allegedly violating bidding regulations while procuring Covid test kits from Viet A Technology Corporation.
Investigators of the Khanh Hoa Police Department on June 15 issued decisions to file charges against them for their procurement irregularities that caused severe consequences, the department said today, June 17.
Dong, aged 55, is undergoing treatment after being injured in a traffic accident, thereby being placed under house arrest, while Huy, aged 44, was arrested.
Earlier in late February, the provincial investigators requested the provincial Department of Justice to direct all notary services providers in the province to abstain from trading, transferring, presenting, or mortgaging assets associated with Dong and nine officials at the Khanh Hoa CDC due to their alleged violations in the procurement of Covid-19 test kits.
According to the provincial health authority, between 2020 and 2021, the Khanh Hoa CDC spent over VND26.2 billion sourced from the State budget buying some 63,300 test kits from Viet A Company. In 2021 alone, the CDC bought 58,580 test kits worth over VND23.8 billion.
The procurement of the test kits was carried out through online bidding and touting. Each test kit was offered at VND367,500–VND509,250, much higher than fair cost, the local media reported.
