and have been asked to return the embezzled funds, stated Deputy Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang.

Deputy Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang at the regular Government press briefing on May 5. The official says the director of the Hanoi Center for Disease Control and his accomplices have pled guilty to the charge of tripling the purchase price of the real-time PCR detection system package – PHOTO: NLDO

Speaking at a regular Government press briefing on May 5, Lieutenant General Luong Tam Quang noted that on April 22, Ministry of Public Security investigators had launched criminal proceedings against eight individuals accused of violating bidding regulations with serious consequences at Hanoi CDC.

Among the accused, seven, including the Hanoi CDC leader, were detained, while the last was put under house arrest.

Quang explained that following the incident, the Ministry of Public Security had proposed the prime minister assign the Ministry of Health to ask localities to make reports on the purchase of health equipment for Covid-19 infection prevention and control initiatives.

Besides this, probes into bidding packages for the purchase of health equipment, especially ventilators, should be launched, the local media reported, citing Quang.

If Ministry of Health investigators or provincial and city investigators find signs of violations, the Ministry of Public Security will proceed with criminal procedures in line with prevailing regulations, remarked the deputy minister.

Earlier, the results of the preliminary investigation showed that these suspects had colluded with each other, cheated and inflated the price of the bidding package for the purchase of real-time PCR detection systems, according to the ministry’s investigation agency.

The real-time detection systems were imported into Vietnam at a price of VND2.3 billion, but the Hanoi CDC reported a cost of VND7 billion. SGT