A prison term of 10 years was handed to Nguyen Nhat Cam, the former director of the Hanoi CDC, for inflating the price of Covid-19 testing equipment and violations of bidding regulations that causes serious consequences.

Cam and his accomplices have confessed to police that they jacked up the price of the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) machines used in testing the new coronavirus by a factor of three. They have been asked to return the embezzled money.

Nguyen Nhat Cam, former director of the Hanoi CDC, and other defendants stand their second-instance trial at the Hanoi People’s Court on June 24. Photo: Nguyen Bao

At the second-instance trial, the Hanoi People’s Procuracy on June 24 also requested jail sentences of six years and a half for Nguyen Vu Ha Thanh, former head of the CDC Hanoi’s Financial-Accounting Office, and Dao The Vinh, former Director of Vietnam Scientific and Material Science Company Limited (MST).

A jail term of six years was handed to Nguyen Tran Duy, the former General Director of Nhan Thanh Asset Valuation and Auctioning JSC.

Other defendants, including Nguyen Thi Kim Dung, the former head of the Hanoi CDC’s Organization Office; Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, the former head of the Hanoi CDC’s Professional Plan Office will face jail terms of six and five years, respectively.

Earlier, police uncovered collusion among these defendants for cheating and inflating the procurement price of real-time PCR detection systems, according to the presentence report by the Supreme People’s Procuracy.

The price real-time detection systems were imported into Vietnam at a price quoted at VND2.3 billion (US$98,651) per machine, but the Hanoi CDC bought them at VND7 billion (US$ 300,272) per unit.

Under Article 222 of the Penal Code, those who violate bidding regulations that cause serious consequences may be convicted to 1-20 years imprisonment, depending on the seriousness of the offense.

The jury said that the defendants’ acts were extremely dangerous to the entire society, affecting the Party and State’s prestige, especially when Vietnam was focusing on fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cam played the leading role in the wrongdoing and thus was given the heaviest sentence among the defendants.