In April 2014, AIC Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan allegedly approached Mr. Duong HoaXo, Director of the Center for Biotechnology in Ho Chi Minh City. Nhan proposed that AIC be involved in a project to procure equipment for 12 laboratories at the Center, to which Xo agreed.
In 2015, after the project and contractor selection plan were approved, Nhan instructed Tran Manh Ha (Deputy General Director of AIC) and Tran Dang Tan (Head of AIC’s Ho Chi Minh City office) to meet with Xo. They agreed that AIC would rebuild the equipment list to ensure a profit margin of approximately 40% of the value of each package.
Around this time, Nguyen Xuan Vu, Chairman of Gene Vietnam High-Tech Joint Stock Company, personally met with Nhan to request being a subcontractor for several project packages.
Nhan agreed, on the condition that AIC would handle diplomacy and costs, while Gene Vietnam would be responsible for the specialized tasks, including procurement, handover, installation, operation guidance, and maintenance. Gene Vietnam was also required to ensure a 40% profit margin for AIC on each package.
Additionally, Gene Vietnam introduced a consulting unit to prepare the invitation for bids and evaluate the bids, allowing the AIC-Gene Vietnam joint venture to negotiate with suppliers for lower prices than those agreed upon with AIC. Gene Vietnam would then benefit from the price reduction.
As Gene Vietnam was newly established and lacked the capacity to participate in the bidding process, its members agreed to use Vietnam Asia Company (in which Gene Vietnam holds a 10% stake) as their legal representative in the joint venture with AIC for the project’s first phase.
Causing damages of over 61 billion VND
After Gene Vietnam joined the joint venture for packages 2, 3, and 4 of the project’s first phase, Nhan instructed her subordinates to coordinate with Xo, along with Nguyen Dang Quan (Deputy Director of the Center for Biotechnology), Pham Hoang Minh Ly (CEO of Gene Vietnam), Phan Quoc Viet (CEO of Vietnam Asia Company), and others, to establish and agree upon equipment configurations and technical specifications. This was done to ensure that the investor approved the budget with increased equipment prices, as per the agreement.
Prior to releasing the invitation for bids, to ensure AIC won the bid, Tran Manh Ha required Gene Vietnam to find a replacement company for one of the three packages to avoid potential lawsuits from other companies.
Phan Quoc Viet then instructed his subordinate, Dong Sy Huy, to contact Le Huu Le, Head of the Business Department, and Bach Quoc Chinh, CEO of Vimedimex Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company, to stand in for package 4, phase 2.
Additionally, Tran Manh Ha required Gene Vietnam to find a consulting unit to prepare the invitation for bids and evaluate them, ensuring that the AIC-Vietnam Asia joint venture and Vimedimex won the bid and avoiding bid cancellation.
As per Gene Vietnam’s arrangement, Phan Quoc Viet instructed Dong Sy Huy to contact Tran Vinh Vu, CEO of Hong Ha Investment and Construction Consulting Joint Stock Company, for the Center for Biotechnology to appoint them as the consulting unit for preparing the invitation for bids and evaluating them.
During the bidding process, Tran Manh Ha, Phan Quoc Viet, Dong Sy Huy, and Vo Anh Triet directed employees of Vietnam Asia Company and AIC to establish “green army” companies affiliated with the Gene Vietnam, Vietnam Asia, and AIC groups. These companies purchased the invitation for bids and submitted bids to ensure that the AIC-Vietnam Asia joint venture and Vimedimex won the three packages (2, 3, and 4) in the project’s first phase.
The indictment revealed that Vo Anh Triet, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Asia Company, contacted Hong Ha Company, led by Tran Vinh Vu, to be the consulting unit for preparing and evaluating bids for the project’s first phase.
Vu agreed to the Center for Biotechnology’s appointment as the consulting unit. However, during the preparation of the invitation for bids, Vu established a consulting group that did not participate in the process for packages 2, 3, and 4 in the project’s first phase.
At the suggestion of Vo Anh Triet and with the Center’s approval, Vu included criteria in the invitation for bids that favored the AIC-Vietnam Asia joint venture and Vimedimex. These criteria included requirements for similar contract values, higher minimum personnel numbers, and expanding the scope of similar contracts from biotechnology/pharmacy to technology/pharmacy.
As a result, the AIC-Vietnam Asia joint venture and Vimedimex met the requirements to participate in the bidding process and won the three packages.
Vu’s actions were deemed to have compromised fairness and transparency in the bidding process, favoring the AIC-Vietnam Asia joint venture and Vimedimex in winning the three packages in the project’s first phase, causing a loss of over 61 billion VND to the state.
T.Nhung
