Former minister sentenced to 18 years imprisonment over $2.1m COVID-19 fraud
In a landmark verdict, former Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long has been sentenced to 18 years in prison in connection with a coronavirus test kit scandal.
According to Lifestyle Nigeria, a Vietnamese court pronounced the judgment on Friday, January 12, citing Long’s guilt in accepting bribes exceeding 51 billion VND (US$2.1 million).
Long’s secretary, Nguyen Huynh, also bagged a nine-year sentence. While former Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh was sentenced to three years in prison, VNExpress reports.
Former Hai Duong Provincial Party Committee Secretary Pham Xuan Thang received a five-year term, the report added.
They were prosecuted in connection with the Viet A scandal, which involved the company’s chief executive officer bribing officials the equivalent of US$34 million to win contracts to sell substandard kits to hospitals at a 45% markup, earning his company US$172 million in profits.
newsweekng.com
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