December 10 set for first-instance trial for CDC Hanoi case

Hanoi (VNA) - The Hanoi People’s Court is scheduled to open a first-instance trial on December 10 for the case regarding violations on bidding regulations at the Hanoi Centre for Disease Control (CDC Hanoi).

Of the 10 defendants in the case, six are from CDC Hanoi, including Nguyen Nhat Cam, former director of the centre.

The four others are from private companies: Dao The Vinh, Director of the Vietnam Scientific and Material Science Company Limited (MST); Nguyen Tran Duy, General Director of the Nhan Thanh Asset Valuation and Auctioning JSC; Nguyen Ngoc Nhat, an employee of the Vitech Development Co., Ltd; and Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, an employee of the Phuong Dong Medical Equipment Co., Ltd.

Cam and the five other defendants are in temporary detention, while the remainder are on home detention.

According to the indictment issued by the Supreme People’s Procuracy, taking advantage of COVID-19, Cam colluded with Nhat, Tuyen, and Vinh in early February to raise the sales price of medical machinery and equipment in a bidding package from CDC Hanoi before carrying out normal procedures.

He then directed his employees to legalise all normal procedures, enabling MST to win the bid with a price they had agreed upon, resulting in an economic loss of over 5.4 billion VND (233,200 USD).

Procurators said Cam was the mastermind.

The defendants earlier 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.

The trial is set to last for three days./.