The defendants are charged with “Violating regulations on the management and use of state assets causing loss and waste,” “Fraudulent appropriation of assets,” and “Accepting bribes.”

According to the indictment, during the implementation of the second facilities of Bach Mai Hospital and Viet Duc Hospital projects, several individuals at the Ministry of Health, the Central Health Project Management Unit and related entities committed violations, causing the projects to stall, be prolonged, and fail to meet their objectives.

The indictment determined that the defendants committed violations in appraising and approving contractor selection plans; preparing and approving bidding documents; and organizing contractor selection and implementing bidding packages, causing losses of more than VND733 billion. 

In addition, violations related to hiring foreign consultants for project formulation and technical and construction design caused further losses exceeding VND70 billion.

In addition, during project implementation, defendant Nguyen Chien Thang (former Director of the Central Health Project Management Unit) and Nguyen Huu Tuan (former Deputy Director) abused their positions and authority to demand payments from contractors at a rate of 5 percent of advance and payment amounts. 

Thang is accused of receiving more than VND51 billion, while Tuan allegedly received more than VND7.6 billion.

Taking advantage of Thang’s fear of being investigated for violations in the two projects, defendant Le Thanh Thiem (Director of Sao Nam Song Hong Co., Ltd.) allegedly used fraudulent information to appropriate $2 million (equivalent to more than VND45 billion) from Thang.

During the contractor selection process for package XDBM-05, Tran Minh Tuan (Director of Furtech Company) met with Nguyen Chien Thang to present the company’s capabilities and requested favorable conditions to participate in the bidding package.

Tuan promised to pay the Project Management Unit an amount equivalent to 5 percent of the pre-tax advance and payment value. After receiving agreement, Thang reported to Nguyen Thi Kim Tien that Furtech had sufficient capacity to implement the package and requested approval for participation, which she granted.

To ensure the company won the bid, Thang instructed Tuan to coordinate with defendant Tran Van Sinh (former Head of the Technical Estimation Division of the unit) to prepare bidding documents. When bidding documents for package XDBM-05 were issued, six contractors purchased them, but only three submitted bids by the deadline.

Technical evaluation conducted by SHT Investment Consulting and Construction JSC showed that the Furtech–Xuan Hoa consortium and the Phu Hung–Noi That 190 consortium both met requirements on capacity and experience and achieved minimum technical scores.

After meeting technical requirements, the Furtech–Xuan Hoa consortium proceeded to financial evaluation and won the bid with a price of more than VND199 billion.

Fulfilling his promise, during contract implementation, Tran Minh Tuan paid Thang multiple times at a rate of 5 percent, totaling VND2.5 billion.

Another business owner, Dao Vinh Hien (Director of Phi Hung Company), also contacted and met Thang, introduced the company’s capabilities, and requested favorable conditions for Phu Hung Company to participate in package XDVD-05. Hien similarly promised to “thank” the unit with an amount equivalent to 5 percent of the pre-tax payment value.

After agreeing, Thang reported to Nguyen Thi Kim Tien that Phu Hung had sufficient capacity and proposed allowing the company to join the bidding package, which she approved.

To ensure Phu Hung won the bid, Thang instructed Hien to coordinate with Tran Van Sinh to prepare bidding documents and directed Sinh to work with Dao Xuan Sinh (Director of SHT) during the preparation of bidding documents to secure Phu Hung’s victory.

When bidding documents for package XDVD-05 were issued, three contractors submitted bids. During evaluation, both the Furtech–Xuan Hoa consortium and the Phu Hung–Noi That 190 consortium were deemed to meet capacity and experience requirements and were selected as winning bidders.

During the execution of her duties, former Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien committed violations in approving plans to select foreign contractors for project formulation, architectural design plans, and contractor selection plans for both projects.

These decisions served as the basis for the Central Health Project Management Unit to implement the projects, but multiple violations occurred, causing delays, prolongation, failure to meet objectives, and losses and waste of more than VND803 billion in state assets.

Prosecutors determined that her actions constitute the offense of “Violating regulations on the management and use of state assets causing loss and waste.” During the investigation, the former minister voluntarily paid VND14.5 billion to remedy part of the consequences.

T. Nhung