Assistant to Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam expelled from Communist Party

Nguyen Van Trinh, assistant to Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, was removed from the Communist Party on Friday due to "ideological and political deterioration, and accepting bribes" in the Viet A Covid test kit scam.

Previously, on November 30, Trinh was arrested for allegedly influencing the Ministry of Health in granting a circulation permit to Viet A Company's Covid-19 test kits.

At a meeting on the day, the Party Central Committee's Secretariat concluded that Nguyen Van Trinh, assistant to Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, had degraded in political ideology, morality, lifestyle, and accepted bribes. He had violated the Party's regulations, the State's laws, regulations on what Party members must not do and responsibility to set an example, causing very serious consequences that caused anger in the society.

Pursuant to the content, nature, extent, consequences and causes of his violations as well as the Party's regulations on disciplining its members who violate, the Secretariat decided to remove Trinh from the Party.

The Secretariat also asked relevant authorities to administratively discipline Trinh in synch and timely with the Party's discipline.

In November 30, Trinh was arrested for further investigation into "his alleged abuse of positions and power while performing his duty," the Ministry of Public Security stated in a release.

Trinh allegedly "influenced agencies and individuals at the Ministry of Health to help Viet A Company's test kits obtain a registration number for market circulation against the law." This helped Viet A sell test kits in agencies and localities across the country, causing especially serious damage to the state assets.

In the past nearly 12 months, since violations at Viet A Company were first exposed, the Ministry of Public Security's investigative agency and the police in many localities have placed more than 100 people under investigation.

Of these, three are former Party Central Committee members, namely former Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long, former Hanoi Mayor Chu Ngoc Anh, and former Secretary of Hai Duong's Party Committee Pham Xuan Thang.

The Viet A case has been under the Central Steering Committee on Anti-corruption's supervision and direction. The scam is considered a typical example of "systemic corruption" due to its scale, occurring at both central and local entities.

Lieutenant General To An Xo, chief of staff and spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security, told a government meeting in June that Viet A earned up to VND4,000 billion ($172.47 million) illicitly, of which VND800 billion was spent on bribes.