Vietnam reaffirms resolve to handle notorious graft scandals
VOV.VN - The Central Steering Committee for Corruption and Negative Phenomena Prevention and Control has requested relevant agencies remove obstacles and fully handle complicated corruption cases which are of public concern this year.
The committee led by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made the request during its 22nd meeting on August 17 in Hanoi, the Party’s Commission for Internal Affairs announced at a press briefing on the results of the meeting.
By the end of this year greater efforts must be made in order to complete investigations into 14 cases, issue indictments to prosecute a further 20 cases, and conduct first-instance and appeal trials for 30 cases, along with completing verification and settling 21 other cases which are under the microscope of the Steering Committee.
The most notorious cases include the test kit scandal at Viet A Technologies JSC, the bribery scandal regarding repatriation flights for Vietnamese people at the Consular Department, and the share manipulation scandal at FLC Group. Two other cases under close scrutiny are the property fraud case at Tan Hoang Minh Group and the case regarding medical supply procurement violations at AIC – Vietnam Valuation and Investment JSC.
The Viet A test kit scandal is widely considered to be one of the most notorious graft cases in Vietnam. Last December saw police arrest and initiate legal proceedings against Phan Quoc Viet, general director of Viet A Technologies, for raising the price of RT-PCR COVID-19 test kits and offering bribes to health officials to sell their test kits.
Viet and other key leaders of the company had admitted to colluding with leaders of hospitals and provincial Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) in order to supply COVID-19 test kits to hospitals and CDCs at prices set by the company, which were far higher than the production price.
The police have so far prosecuted and detained more than 90 ranking officials who are closely linked to the Viet A case. Among them were former Hanoi Mayor Chu Ngoc Anh and former Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long, both of whom were members of the Party Central Committee.
Over recent years Vietnam has stepped up the fight against corruption by bringing to light notorious cases which spark public anger. General Secretary Trong, a pioneer in the fight, has said there is no ‘forbidden zone’ in corruption prevention and control. Consequently, many high-ranking officials and military officers have been disciplined for their misconduct with regard to these cases.
