HCMC – Phan Quoc Viet, founder and general director of Viet A Technology Corporation, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for abusing his power and violating bidding regulations in the notorious Covid-19 test kit price gouging scandal.
After a three-day trial, the military court of Hanoi on December 29 issued its verdicts against four former officers of Vietnam Military Medical University (VMMU), Phan Quoc Viet, and two other defendants in the case mentioned above.
Phan Quoc Viet got a 15-year jail term for abusing authority while executing official duties, and an additional 10 years in prison for serious violations of bidding regulations. The combined sentence is 25 years in jail.
Vu Dinh Hiep, deputy general director of Viet A, got six years behind bars for seriously violating bidding regulations.
Ho Anh Son, deputy director of the Institute of Biomedicine and Pharmacy at the VNMU, was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for charges on abusing his power while on official duties.
Three other defedants at the VNMU are accused of seriously violating bidding regulations.
Nguyen Van Hieu, former head of VNMU’s Materials and Equipment Supplies Department, was sentenced to seven years in jail; while Ngo Anh Tuan, former head of the finance department got four years behind bars. Le Truong Minh, former head of the pharmaceutical department, was given a jail term of six years.
Trinh Thanh Hung, former deputy head of the Department of Science and Technology for Economic Technical Branches at the Ministry of Science and Technology, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for abusing authority during executing official duties.
The court forbid the defendants from assuming leadership or managerial roles for a period of two years after completing their respective prison terms. However, in the case of Viet, the prohibition extends to four years.
The court said that those defendants commited serious violations for personal gains, causing damage to the State budget, and eroding trust of the people in the military.
