Prosecution of Former Party Secretary, Provincial Chairman, and 11 Other Defendants
The Supreme People’s Procuracy has just issued an indictment to prosecute Mr. Nguyen Nhan Chien (DOB: 1960, former Secretary of the Bac Ninh Provincial Party Committee) and 12 other defendants in a case of bribery, receiving bribes, and violations of bidding regulations with serious consequences occurring at the Project Management Board for Health Construction Works under the Bac Ninh Provincial Department of Health, AIC Company, and related units.
In this case, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan (Chairman and General Director of AIC Company) was indicted for the crime of “Offering Bribes” as stipulated in Article 364 of the Penal Code.
The defendants Nguyen Nhan Chien, Nguyen Tu Quynh (DOB: 1959, former Chairman of the Bac Ninh Provincial People’s Committee), Tran Van Tuynh (DOB: 1960, former Director of the Project Management Board for Health Construction Works under the Bac Ninh Provincial Department of Health), and Nguyen Hanh Chung (DOB: 1964, former Director of the Bac Ninh Provincial Department of Health) were indicted for the crime of “Receiving Bribes” as stipulated in Article 354 of the Penal Code.
Defendant Nguyen Van Nhuong (DOB: 1959, former Vice Chairman of the Bac Ninh Provincial People’s Committee) was indicted for the crime of “Abusing Position and Power while Performing Official Duties” as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 356 of the Penal Code.
The defendants La Tuan Hung (DOB: 1973, General Director of the Song Hong General Corporation), Nguyen Hong Son (DOB: 1970, Deputy General Director of AIC Company), Nguyen Dang An (DOB: 1974, former Head of the Planning and Synthesis Department, Project Management Board for Health Construction Works under the Bac Ninh Provincial Department of Health), Nguyen Kim Huan (DOB: 1984, former Deputy Head of the Planning and Synthesis Department, Project Management Board for Health Construction Works under the Bac Ninh Provincial Department of Health), Dang Xuan Minh (DOB: 1977, Chairman and General Director of BTC VALUE Valuation Joint Stock Company), Nguyen Viet Toan (DOB: 1979), and Nguyen Dang Linh (DOB: 1989, both employees of AIC Company) were indicted for the crime of “Violating Bidding Regulations with Serious Consequences” as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 222 of the Penal Code.
Violations in Bidding Regulations Caused a Loss of More Than 48.6 Billion VND to the State Budget
According to the indictment, from 2006 to 2008, the People’s Committee of Bac Ninh Province issued decisions approving the investment project to renovate and upgrade, as well as build new general hospitals (GH) in six districts, including Gia Binh, Yen Phong, Thuan Thanh, Luong Tai, Que Vo, and Tien Du. The project was assigned to the Project Management Board for Health Construction Works under the Bac Ninh Provincial Department of Health as the investor, with a total investment of more than 497.4 billion VND.
By early 2013, the above-mentioned six district-level general hospitals had basically completed the construction investment and continued to implement the procurement and installation of medical equipment according to the approved estimates.
As most of the approved estimate capital had been used for construction investment, there was a lack of capital for equipment procurement and installation.
On January 24, 2014, the Prime Minister signed a decision to allocate additional government bond capital for the 2014-2016 period to unfinished projects, including an allocation of 850 billion VND to the health sector of Bac Ninh Province.
On February 14, 2014, Mr. Nguyen Luong Thanh, Vice Chairman of the Bac Ninh Provincial People’s Committee, signed a decision to allocate capital for construction investment planning for the 2014-2016 period from the government bond capital source, allocating an additional 461 billion VND to the above six projects.
From July 2015 to November 2015, Nguyen Van Nhuong, Vice Chairman of the Bac Ninh Provincial People’s Committee, signed six documents approving the plans for selecting contractors for six equipment procurement packages for the six district-level general hospital projects. The method of selecting contractors was domestic open bidding.
Subsequently, Tran Van Tuynh, Director of the Project Management Board, signed decisions to establish a tender consulting expert group comprising nine members, including Nguyen Dang An, Head of the Planning Department of the Project Management Board, as the group leader, and Nguyen Kim Huan, Deputy Head of the Planning Department, as a member, to implement the bidding process for the six medical equipment packages of the six projects.
However, in the process of implementing the equipment procurement packages for the six projects, some individuals from the Project Management Board and some related units violated the regulations on bidding.
Especially, during the direction of the project implementation, several defendants committed illegal acts for material interests, causing losses of more than 48.6 billion VND to the state budget.
Chairman of AIC Company, Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, Was the Mastermind and Ringleader
The indictment determined that during the bidding process for the six equipment procurement packages for the six district-level general hospital projects, the defendants from the investor, contractor, and valuation company committed acts of offering bribes and violating bidding regulations with serious consequences.
The defendants from state management agencies committed acts of receiving bribes and abusing their positions and powers while performing their official duties, allowing AIC Company and companies in the AIC ecosystem, as well as companies in the Song Hong Group, to win the bids for the six equipment procurement packages for the six district-level general hospitals in Bac Ninh Province, causing a loss of more than 48.6 billion VND to the state. The criminal acts of the defendants are as follows:
Defendant Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of AIC Company, took advantage of her previous relationships with the leaders of Bac Ninh Province to request and receive agreement from Nguyen Nhan Chien, Nguyen Tu Quynh, Nguyen Hanh Chung, Nguyen Van Nhuong, and Tran Van Tuynh to divide the implementation of the packages and create favorable conditions for AIC Company and Mopha Company (established and directed by Nhan) to participate in the bidding and win three equipment procurement packages for three district-level general hospital projects in Gia Binh, Thuan Thanh, and Luong Tai, with a total contract value of more than 126.1 billion VND.
Nhan directed Nguyen Hong Son, Deputy General Director, to instruct AIC Company employees to collude with Tran Van Tuynh and employees of the Project Management Board and the valuation company to legalize the estimated cost, bidding documents, and arrange “green army” companies to participate in the bidding so that AIC Company and Mopha Company could win the bids, causing property damage to the state amounting to more than 25.8 billion VND.
To achieve the goal of illegal profits through winning bids in violation of the law, Nhan bribed people with positions and powers, who were leaders of the Provincial Party Committee and the People’s Committee of Bac Ninh Province, a total of 4.1 billion VND, specifically: 3 billion VND to Nguyen Nhan Chien, 1 billion VND to Nguyen Tu Quynh, and instructed Nguyen Hong Son and Nguyen Viet Toan to give 100 million VND to Nguyen Hanh Chung.
In addition, Nhan also instructed Nguyen Hong Son and Nguyen Viet Toan to give gifts and money to Nguyen Van Nhuong amounting to 450 million VND. On holidays and Tet occasions, Nhan also gave Nguyen Nhan Chien 10 billion VND and Nguyen Tu Quynh 8.1 billion VND, totaling 18.1 billion VND.
Currently, Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan and Nguyen Hong Son are fugitives and their testimonies have not been obtained. However, based on the testimonies of the defendants and related individuals, along with other evidence, there is sufficient basis to determine that Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan is the mastermind and ringleader, bearing primary responsibility for the violations of AIC Company and companies in the AIC ecosystem in the three equipment procurement packages for the three district-level general hospitals in Gia Binh, Thuan Thanh, and Luong Tai.
Former Leaders of Bac Ninh Province Received Bribes
The indictment determined that the defendants Nguyen Nhan Chien (former Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, later Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee), as the head of the Provincial People’s Committee, Nguyen Tu Quynh (former Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee in charge of culture and society, later Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee), Nguyen Hanh Chung (former Director of the Provincial Department of Health), and Tran Van Tuynh (former Director of the Project Management Board, representing the investor) took advantage of their positions and powers to agree on the division and creation of favorable conditions for AIC Company and companies in the AIC ecosystem of Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, as well as companies in the Song Hong Group, to collude and win the bids for the six equipment procurement packages for the six district-level general hospitals in Bac Ninh Province in violation of the law, causing a loss of more than 48 billion VND to the state budget.
After assisting and creating favorable conditions for the above-mentioned group of companies to win the bids, Nguyen Nhan Chien, Nguyen Tu Quynh, Tran Van Tuynh, and Nguyen Hanh Chung received bribes from Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan and La Tuan Hung.
Specifically: Defendant Nguyen Nhan Chien received 4.1 billion VND, including 3 billion VND from Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan and 1 billion VND from Tran Van Tuynh (given by Dang Tien Phong and La Tuan Hung).
In addition, from 2013 to 2020, defendant Nguyen Nhan Chien received money and gifts from Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan totaling 10 billion VND, which he used for personal purposes.
Defendant Nguyen Tu Quynh received 2 billion VND, including 1 billion VND from Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan and 1 billion VND from Tran Van Tuynh (given by Dang Tien Phong and La Tuan Hung).
Furthermore, from 2013 to 2019, defendant Nguyen Tu Quynh also received 8.1 billion VND from Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, which he used for personal purposes.
Defendant Tran Van Tuynh received money three times from Dang Tien Phong and La Tuan Hung, totaling 6 billion VND.
Tran Van Tuynh spent this money as follows: 1 billion VND to Nguyen Nhan Chien, 1 billion VND to Nguyen Tu Quynh, 300 million VND to Nguyen Van Nhuong, 500 million VND to Nguyen Hanh Chung, and the remaining 3.2 billion VND for personal spending.
Defendant Nguyen Hanh Chung received a total of 600 million VND four times. This included three times from Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, totaling 100 million VND, and once from Dang Tien Phong and La Tuan Hung (through Tran Van Tuynh) for 500 million VND.
The above-mentioned amount was used by defendant Nguyen Hanh Chung for personal purposes.
Defendant Nguyen Van Nhuong (former Vice Chairman of the Bac Ninh Provincial People’s Committee) had a close relationship with Tran Van Tuynh and Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, so he agreed with Nguyen Tu Quynh and received directions from Nguyen Nhan Chien to create favorable conditions for the group of companies of La Tuan Hung and AIC Company of Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan to win the bids. He signed documents approving the plans for selecting contractors, final settlement of the packages, violating Clause 89 of the 2013 Bidding Law and its guiding documents, causing a loss of more than 48.6 billion VND to the state.
In addition, on holidays and Tet occasions, Nguyen Van Nhuong received gifts from AIC Company totaling 450 million VND, of which 300 million VND was given by Nguyen Viet Toan and 300 million VND by Tran Van Tuynh.
Defendants Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan and Nguyen Hong Son are fugitives.
Prosecution of Two Defendants, Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan and Nguyen Hong Son, Who Are Fugitives
In a related development, on September 13, the Supreme People’s Procuracy issued a notice regarding the prosecution of the defendants in the case that occurred at the Project Management Board for Health Construction Works under the Bac Ninh Provincial Department of Health, the Advanced International Joint Stock Company (AIC), and related units.
According to this notice, on September 12, 2024, the Supreme People’s Procuracy (Department III) issued Indictment No. 8707/CTT-VKSTC-V3 to prosecute 13 defendants in the above-mentioned case for the crimes of “Violating Bidding Regulations with Serious Consequences,” “Offering Bribes,” “Receiving Bribes,” and “Abusing Position and Power while Performing Official Duties,” as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 222; Clause 4, Article 364; Clause 4, Article 354; and Clause 3, Article 356 of the 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2017.
To ensure the resolution of the case in accordance with the law, the Supreme People’s Procuracy (Department III) requested the Bao Ve Phap Luat Newspaper, the Vietnam News Agency, the People’s Police Television Channel, and the Ministry of Public Security’s Portal to publish information about the prosecution of the two fugitives so that they can turn themselves in to the police or procuracy agencies nearest to them, enjoy the lenient policies of the State, and exercise their right to defense in accordance with Clause 60 of the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code.
If they continue to flee, the Supreme People’s Procuracy will consider them as waiving their right to defense and proceed with the prosecution and trial in accordance with the law. The two fugitives are as follows:
Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, born on August 22, 1969, in Bac Ninh Province; Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of the Advanced International Joint Stock Company (AIC). Permanent residence: Pacific Place Apartment, 83B Ly Thuong Kiet, Tran Hung Dao Ward, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.
Personal history: The Hanoi City People’s Court’s first-instance criminal judgment No. 05/2023/HS-ST dated January 4, 2023, and the Hanoi High-Level People’s Court’s appellate criminal judgment No. 389/2023/HS-PT dated May 24, 2023, sentenced Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan to 16 years in prison for the crime of “Violating Bidding Regulations with Serious Consequences” and 14 years in prison for the crime of “Offering Bribes.” The total sentence for the two crimes is 30 years in prison.
The Quang Ninh Provincial People’s Court’s first-instance criminal judgment No. 120/2023/HS-ST dated October 26, 2023, and the Hanoi High-Level People’s Court’s appellate criminal judgment No. 154/2024/HSPT dated February 26, 2024, sentenced Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan to 10 years in prison for the crime of “Violating Bidding Regulations with Serious Consequences.” Combined with the Hanoi City People’s Court’s first-instance criminal judgment No. 05/2023/HS-ST and the Hanoi High-Level People’s Court’s appellate criminal judgment No. 389/2023/HS-PT, the defendant must serve a total sentence of 30 years in prison for all cases.
The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court’s first-instance criminal judgment No. 336/2024/HS-ST dated July 12, 2024, sentenced Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan to 12 years in prison for the crime of “Violating Bidding Regulations with Serious Consequences” and 12 years in prison for the crime of “Offering Bribes.” Combined with the Quang Ninh Provincial People’s Court’s first-instance criminal judgment No. 120/2023/HS-ST dated October 26, 2023, and the Hanoi High-Level People’s Court’s appellate criminal judgment No. 154/2024/HSPT dated February
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