HCMC – Former Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien and several related individuals have been accused of causing losses of nearly VND804 billion in two projects: Bach Mai Hospital 2 and Viet Duc Friendship Hospital 2, said local news reports.
The Investigation Police Agency under the Ministry of Public Security has issued its investigation conclusion into the case of “Violations of regulations on the management and use of State assets causing loss and waste; Fraudulent appropriation of property; and Taking bribes,” which occurred at the Ministry of Health and relevant units.
The agency has proposed prosecuting Nguyen Thi Kim Tien (born 1959), former Minister of Health, for the offense of “Violations of regulations on the management and use of State assets causing loss and waste,” as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 219 of the Penal Code.
Six other defendants have also been recommended for prosecution on the same charge: Nguyen Kim Trung (born 1960), former deputy director of the Key National Health Projects Management Board and former deputy head of the Department of Medical Equipment and Health Works under the Ministry of Health; Tran Van Sinh (born 1974), former deputy director of the Health Construction Project Management Board under the Ministry of Health; and Dao Xuan Sinh (born 1976), former director of SHT Investment Consulting and Construction JSC, among others.
Two defendants — Nguyen Chien Thang (born 1957), former director of the Key National Health Projects Management Board under the Ministry of Health, and Nguyen Huu Tuan (born 1970), former director of the Health Construction Project Management Board and acting head of the Key National Health Projects Management Board under the Ministry of Health — have been recommended for prosecution on two charges: “Violations of regulations on the management and use of State assets causing loss and waste” and “Taking bribes.”
The investigation agency has also proposed prosecuting Le Thanh Thiem (born 1968), director of Sao Nam Song Hong Co., Ltd., for “Fraudulent appropriation of property.” He previously received a three-year suspended prison sentence for “Taking bribes.”
According to the investigation conclusion, although the prime minister had not approved a proposal to hire foreign consultants, Nguyen Chien Thang still signed submissions enabling Nguyen Thi Kim Tien to sign decisions permitting the hiring of foreign consultants to prepare the two new construction projects for the second campuses of Bach Mai Hospital and Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, and to approve the architectural design selection plans. He also allowed VK Architects and Engineers to prepare and submit architectural design proposals and approved the final selection results.
Based on the approved architectural designs, Nguyen Chien Thang allegedly directed Nguyen Kim Trung, Nguyen Huu Tuan and Tran Van Sinh to complete and legitimize unlawful files for non-bid contractor selection for the VK Studio–Institute TTB consortium to carry out packages TV4/2014 and TV5/2014. He also coordinated with Dao Xuan Sinh to prepare an unlawful file for no-bid selection of VK Studio as contractor to implement packages TVBM-04 and TVVD-4, causing losses to the State of more than VND70 billion.
Regarding the preparation and approval of bidding documents, the investigation concluded that, in order to ensure the progress of the two projects as required by the Government, Nguyen Chien Thang directed Tran Van Sinh to advise the Key National Health Projects Management Board to submit a proposal to the Ministry of Health for approval of the contractor selection plan without properly dividing bidding packages based on technical nature, implementation sequence and project consistency.
Investigators allege that Nguyen Chien Thang, Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Nguyen Kim Trung, Nguyen Huu Tuan and Tran Van Sinh committed systematic violations, causing total losses and waste of nearly VND804 billion in State assets.
