Trial of Viet A major case: A female defendant was absent from court due to having just given birth.

On the morning of January 3, the Hanoi People's Court brought 38 defendants in the Viet A case to trial.

The presiding judge announced the absence of defendant Tran Thi Hong, employees of Viet A Company and a number of people with related rights and obligations.

The representative of the Procuracy assessed that the absence of defendant Hong and others did not affect the trial, so they requested to continue the trial.

The jury then adjourned for a few minutes to deliberate.

A few minutes later, Judge Tran Nam Ha, the presiding judge of the trial, said that the defendant Tran Thi Hong's absence had a legitimate reason, because she had just given birth, and would not affect the trial, so the trial should continue.

Xét xử đại án Việt Á: Một nữ bị cáo vắng mặt tại tòa do mới sinh con - 1 — The defendants were escorted to court by police (Photo: Nguyen Hai).

Regarding those who have other related rights and obligations who are absent, according to Mr. Ha, due to the long trial, these people will be summoned when deemed necessary.

Afterwards, the representative of the Procuracy announced the indictment which was nearly 70 pages long.

At the trial this morning, there were more than 30 people representing the Centers for Disease Control of provinces, cities and companies with rights and obligations related to the case.

In addition, Ms. Ho Thi Thanh Thuy (Phan Quoc Viet's wife) was also summoned to court.

Earlier, at exactly 7am the same day, the police escorted the first defendants to the Hanoi People’s Court. Due to the large number of defendants, they were escorted in many specialized vehicles, in many batches.

The first instance trial is expected to last about 20 consecutive days (January 3-23). This is the first major case to be tried in 2024.

More than 70 lawyers registered to defend and protect the rights of the people involved at the trial.

Xét xử đại án Việt Á: Một nữ bị cáo vắng mặt tại tòa do mới sinh con - 2 — Defendant Pham Xuan Thang, former Secretary of Hai Duong Provincial Party Committee, was escorted to court (Photo: Nguyen Hai).

Among them, former Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long and defendant Phan Quoc Viet (General Director of Viet A Company) each have 4 defense lawyers.

According to the indictment, in early 2020, when the Covid-19 epidemic broke out strongly, the Military Medical Academy was assigned to carry out a research project on Covid-19 test kits, to help Vietnam proactively procure medical supplies to fight the epidemic.

However, with the motive of profit, defendant Trinh Thanh Hung, former Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Economic and Technical Sectors (Ministry of Science and Technology) tried to get Viet A Company to participate in the project with the Military Medical Academy.

During the implementation process, the defendants colluded with each other and advised superiors to organize acceptance immediately after the results of phase 1 were available (instead of full acceptance).

Immediately after being transferred the test kit research process, Phan Quoc Viet (General Director of Viet A Company) assigned his subordinates to continue developing it for production, then apply for a license for circulation and commercial business.

To participate in research, product registration, and price negotiations, Phan Quoc Viet was accused of giving bribes of 106 billion VND, including 3 million USD and 4 billion VND (total 82 billion VND) to 6 officials.

Xét xử đại án Việt Á: Một nữ bị cáo vắng mặt tại tòa do mới sinh con - 3 — Defendant Nguyen Thanh Liem, former Director of the Department of Financial Planning, Ministry of Health (Photo: Nguyen Hai).

The indictment shows that in 2020 and 2021, Viet A Company produced a total of more than 8.7 million test kits and sold more than 8.3 million kits to medical units and facilities across the country. Viet A was paid more than 4.5 million test kits with a total amount of VND 2,250 billion.

The investigation results determined that Viet A Company spent nearly 365 billion VND to buy raw materials, plus other expenses, taxes and 5% profit, the production cost of 1 test kit is more than 143,000 VND.

However, Viet A Company "inflated" the price many times and was approved by the Ministry of Health during price negotiations, to sell to the market at 470,000 VND/1 test kit. The prosecution agency accused that from inflating the price of the test kit, Viet A Company illegally earned 1,235 billion VND.

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