A Vietnamese court on Saturday sentenced the head of the Hanoi Center for Disease Control and Prevention to 10 years in prison after finding him guilty of wrongdoing linked to the procurement of equipment intended to help tackle the COVID-19 outbreak.
Nguyen Nhat Cam, 57, was accused of overstating the cost of COVID-19 testing systems during a transaction, causing a loss of 5.4 billion dong ($233,483) to the state budget, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement.
Cam and his accomplices’ activities would negatively affect the image of doctors and the anti-COVID-19 agency, angering the public and undermining confidence in the healthcare sector, the statement said.
The court also sentenced nine other people to between three and 6-1/2 years in prison for their involvement in the matter.
Related: CDC chief of Vietnam’s capital city arrested for graft in coronavirus test kit purchase
In April 2020, Nguyen Nhat Cam and six others have been arrested for suspected corruption related to Covid-19 test kit purchases.
The Ministry of Public Security reported that he was taken in for “violating regulations of the law on bidding causing serious consequences.” The CDC “conspired to cheat and raise the price of a bidding package for Covid-19 test kits utilizing Realtime PCR systems.”
Nguyen Vu Ha Thanh, head of the agency’s financial accounting department; Le Xuan Tuan, an employee of the department; Dao The Vinh, director of the Vietnam Scientific and Material Science Company Limited; Nguyen Tran Duy, director of the Nhan Thanh Property Valuation and Auction company; Nguyen Ngoc Nhat, an employee of the Vitech Development Company Limited; and Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, an employee of the Eastern Medical Equipment Company, face the same charges.
The CDC, Nhan Thanh, the Vietnam Scientific and Material Science Company Limited, and several other entities are involved in the case, according to the public security ministry.
Cam has been the director of the Hanoi Center for Preventative Medicine since 2013 and took over at the Hanoi CDC in 2018.
The CDC is in charge of preventing outbreaks and infectious diseases in the capital.
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Source: Vietnam Insider