Director of the Hanoi Center for Disease Control (CDC) Nguyen Nhat Cam and his accomplices have confessed inflating by three-fold the procurement price of medical equipment and supplies for Covid-19 testing, the Government Portal quoted Deputy Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang as saying at the recent press briefing.

Deputy Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang speaks at the recent press briefing. Photo: VGP

They have been asked to return the embezzled money.

Lieutenant General Luong Tam Quang noted that on April 22, Ministry of Public Security investigators launched criminal proceedings against eight individuals who were accused of violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences at the Hanoi CDC.

Among the accused, seven, including the Hanoi CDC's director, were detained, while one is put under house arrest.

Quang said that following the incident, the Ministry of Health has asked localities to make reports on the purchase of health equipment for Covid-19 prevention and control.

Besides this, probes into the purchase of other health equipment, especially biochemical test machine, ventilators and medical masks, should be launched, Quang added.

If signs of violations are found, the Ministry of Public Security will proceed with criminal procedures, the deputy police chief stressed.

Earlier, results of the preliminary investigation uncovered collusion among these suspects for cheating and inflating the procurement price of real-time PCR detection systems, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

The suspects include Nguyen Nhat Cam; Nguyen Vu Ha Thanh, head of the Hanoi CDC’s Finance and Accounting Division; Le Xuan Tuan, an employee the Hanoi CDC’s Finance and Accounting Division.

The four others are Dao The Vinh, director of Vietnam Materials Science and Trading Limited Company (MST); Nguyen Tran Duy, general director of Nhan Thanh Property Auction and Auctioning JSC; Nguyen Ngoc Nhat, an employee of Vitech Scientific Development Co., Ltd; and Tuyen Thanh Thanh, an employee of Oriental Medical Equipment Co., Ltd.

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