Video: Escorting 2 former Ministers Nguyen Thanh Long, Chu Ngoc Anh and 36 defendants to court in the Viet A case
During the questioning session at the trial of the Viet A case on the afternoon of January 3, former Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Cong Tac stated that he was a deputy, assisting the Minister in solving professional issues, and was jointly responsible for managing the topic related to the test kit of Viet A Company.
Regarding the conclusion that the amount of money Phan Quoc Viet (Chairman of Viet A Company) gave to the defendant was 50,000 USD (more than 1 billion VND), Mr. Tac denied and stated that he only received 100 million VND.
“The defendant remembers that after the meeting, Viet wanted to visit and leave the kit, saying that he had a peach blossom branch to give as a gift. The defendant thought the peach blossom was acceptable, so he accepted it and Viet left. However, when he opened it, he found that in addition to the kit, there were also two stacks of money worth 100 million VND,” defendant Pham Cong Tac testified in court.
Currently, the defendant Tac's family has returned 80 million VND. The former Deputy Minister pledged to influence the family to pay the remaining 20 million VND.
Former Deputy Minister Pham Cong Tac.
Regarding this part, the panel of judges called Phan Quoc Viet for questioning. Viet replied that he did not remember because that amount of money was arranged by someone else, not prepared by Viet himself.
Previously, during the interrogation, Viet stated that he gave former Deputy Minister Pham Cong Tac 50,000 USD. However, when the panel of judges said that Mr. Pham Cong Tac stated that he only received 100 million VND, Viet stated: "The defendant gave money to thank many people, so he may not remember."
Also in the trial this afternoon, former Secretary of the Minister of Health Nguyen Huynh admitted that the defendant Viet's testimony was correct, admitting the content of the indictment.
Mr. Huynh stated that Phan Quoc Viet asked for help and gave him money 4 times, a total of 2.2 million USD (51 billion VND), to transfer to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long, and the remaining 4 billion VND was for Huynh. The money transfer took place at the defendant's house.
Meanwhile, in court testimony, former Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long admitted that 10 months after Viet A test kits were temporarily licensed, Mr. Huynh gave money and said that if Viet A did well, he would thank them. Mr. Long said that he did not suggest or demand anything.
The judge asked defendant Huynh again. Mr. Huynh stated that Mr. Long offered to support him twice, each time 1 million USD to do the job.
Next, answering the panel of judges, Mr. Long still affirmed that he did not make any demands or suggestions and said that during the investigation period, he honestly confessed and told his family to recover all the money he had received.
According to the indictment, when the COVID-19 epidemic broke out, the Government and the Ministry of Science and Technology assigned scientific units to proactively research and manufacture biological products to serve the work of epidemic prevention and control.
With the purpose of allowing Viet A Company to participate in the research project on test kits, then appropriate and turn the test kits into the company's products for production and consumption, Phan Quoc Viet colluded with Trinh Thanh Hung (former Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology under the Ministry of Science and Technology) to have Viet A approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology to participate and coordinate with the Military Medical Academy to carry out the project.
Phan Quoc Viet then asked Nguyen Van Trinh (former official of the Government Office), Nguyen Thanh Long (former Minister of Health)... to intervene, influence, and direct Viet A to be granted a temporary circulation registration number by the Ministry of Health and officially register for circulation of the COVID-19 test kit.
When Viet A commercially produced and sold 200,000 test kits to the Ministry of Health, Viet A inflated the unit price structure but was still negotiated by the Ministry of Health, determining the price of 470,000 VND/test kit without basis...
The case file shows that during the crime, Phan Quoc Viet bribed Nguyen Thanh Long 2.25 million USD (51 billion VND), Nguyen Huynh (defendant Long's secretary) 4 billion VND, Nguyen Minh Tuan (former Director of the Department of Medical Equipment and Construction, Ministry of Health) 300,000 USD (6.9 billion VND), Trinh Thanh Hung 350,000 USD (8 billion VND); Nguyen Nam Lien (former Director of the Department of Financial Planning, Ministry of Health) 100,000 USD (about 2.3 billion VND).
In addition, Phan Quoc Viet also paid "thank you" money to defendant Nguyen Van Trinh (former Government Office official) 200,000 USD, former Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh 200,000 USD (about 4.6 billion VND) and former Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Cong Tac 50,000 USD (more than 1.1 billion VND)...
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