Two women arrested for 'manipulating' officials in Covid test kit scandal

Two women have been found guilty of influencing ministerial officials to help Viet A Company produce and trade Covid-19 test kits.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, a former officer at Vietnam Education Publishing House Limited Company, and Nguyen Bach Thuy Linh, director of SNB Holdings Co., Ltd., were arrested on Wednesday by the Ministry of Public Security's investigative agency (C03).

Thuy, 55, and Nguyen Bach Thuy Linh, 45, both residing in Hanoi, are under further investigation for "abusing influence over people with positions and power for personal gains" per the Penal Code.

This is the latest development in the investigation into the case of "violating regulations on management and use of state assets, causing losses and waste; breaching bidding regulations, causing serious consequences; abusing positions and power while performing official duties; giving bribes; and receiving bribes" that occurred at Viet A Company and related units and localities. The case is under the supervision and direction of the Party's Central Steering Committee on Anti-corruption.

According to C03, Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy and Nguyen Bach Thuy Linh influenced leaders of ministries and state agencies to help Viet A Company produce and trade Covid-19 test kits for illicit profits.

C03 has frozen their assets in an attempt to recover state losses.

In December 2022, Nguyen Van Trinh, assistant to Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, was expelled from the Communist Party due to "ideological and political deterioration, and accepting bribes" as part of the Viet A Covid test kit scam.

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

At the government's regular press conference on Tuesday, Lieutenant General To An Xo, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Security, said that up to now, 102 people have been arrested for investigation into alleged criminal acts in the Viet A case. The amount frozen assets related to the case has reached VND1.6 trillion ($68 million). The ministry plans to complete its investigation in the first quarter of 2023.

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 is being viewed as a typical example of "systemic corruption" due to its scale at both central and local entities.

During the investigation, the Ministry of Public Security said Phan Quoc Viet, former board chairman and general director of Viet A Company, took advantage of his relations to turn scientific research on Covid-19 test kits in the name of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Military Medical Academy of the Ministry of Defense into an application for his own company and then sold to partners, reaping VND4 trillion ($170.4 million).

Phan Quoc Viet was also determined to have spent about VND800 billion ($34/1 million) for partners to produce and sell Covid-19 test kits.