Hai Duong province chairman disciplined

Trieu The Hung, chairman of Hai Duong province for the 2016-2021 term was reprimanded by the Prime Minister Thursday for work-related violations.

Previously, the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat had taken disciplinary action against him.

Hung was found to have lacked responsibility in directing, inspecting and supervising, resulting in violations and shortcomings of some organizations and individuals in the northern province's Covid-19 fight.

On the same day, PM Pham Minh Chinh also removed Nguyen Duong Thai from the status of former chairman of Hai Duong for the 2016-2021 term, while reprimanding Luong Van Cau, former vice chairman.

On October 3, the Party Central Committee expelled Pham Xuan Thang, Secretary of Hai Duong’s Party Committee from the Party.

Thang has been detained by the Ministry of Public Security’s investigative agency (C03) for further investigation into the alleged crime of "abusing positions and power in performing official duties per the Penal Code."

On September 16, the Secretariat reprimanded former Hai Duong chairman Trieu The Hung and former vice chairman Luong Van Cau; removed Nguyen Duong Thai, former deputy secretary of the provincial Party Committee and former chairman of the province, from all Party positions; and expelled Pham Manh Cuong, director of the health department, from the Party.

Under the Politburo and the Secretariat’s conclusion, the Party leaders of Hai Duong for the 2020-2025 term had violated the principle of democratic centralism and working regulations; lacked responsibility in leadership and direction; promulgated many concluding documents with contents in breach of the Party’s regulations and the State’s laws.

They lacked inspection and supervision, failed to promptly detect violations and shortcomings of the provincial people’s committee, many Party organizations and Party members in leading, directing and organizing Covid-19 fight activities, the conclusion notes.

Pham Xuan Thang, Party chief of Hai Duong, was arrested on September 17 for “abusing positions and power in performing official duties” per the Penal Code.

This is the latest development in the Viet A test kit case that involves: violating regulations on management and use of state assets, causing loss and waste; violating regulations on bidding, causing serious consequences; abusing positions and power while performing official duties; giving bribes; and accepting bribes.

The C03 said Thang had taken advantage of his positions and power to issue directions that breached the law on bidding, allowing the Viet A Company to gain large amounts of illicit profit.

The criminal case related to Viet A Company is considered a major one subject to monitoring and direction by the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption. Until now, prosecution agencies under the Ministry of Public Security and police departments across the country have detained more than 90 people in related cases, including several former Party Central Committee members.

Before Thang’s arrest, the C03 had detained former Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long and former Mayor of Hanoi Chu Ngoc Anh.

Taking advantage of “special relationships” with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Science and Technology and some localities, between February 2020 to December 2021, Viet A Company provided millions of Covid-19 test kits to ministries, state agencies, hospitals, centers for disease control (CDC) and partners in more than 60 provinces and cities, earning revenues of about VND4,000 billion ($169 million).

The prosecution agencies determined that in order to win the contract to provide test kits and biological products, Viet A Company leaders paid VND800 billion ($33.81 million) in “commissions” to partners. Many company leaders were prosecuted for giving bribes.