On february 27, Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, former Minister of Health, was recommended for prosecution by the Criminal Police Department for Corruption, Economic, and Smuggling Crimes (C03) of the Ministry of Public Security. She faces charges of violating regulations on state asset management and use, causing losses and waste, under clause 3, Article 219 of the Penal Code.

Among the nine other defendants in the case, Nguyen Chien Thang, former Director of the Ministry of Health's Key Medical Project Management Board, and Nguyen Huu Tuan, former Deputy Director in charge of the Board, are accused of violating regulations on state asset management and use, causing losses and waste, and receiving bribes.

According to the investigation findings, during the contractor selection process for ten construction and installation bidding packages within the project, Ms. Tien would introduce interested parties to Mr. Thang for direct discussions. Conversely, any entity expressing interest in "bidding" would be reported by Mr. Thang to Ms. Tien for her opinion.

After the bidding invitation documents for package XDBM-01 in the Bach Mai Hospital 2 project were issued, nine entities purchased the documents, but only three contractors submitted proposals. The technical proposal evaluation for SHT Company showed that only the consortium of General Corporation 36 - General Corporation 319 - Thanh An General Corporation met the capacity and experience requirements, achieving 902 out of 1,000 technical points. This consortium also met the minimum required points for all criteria.

This consortium subsequently opened its financial proposal and won the bid with a proposed price of 2,189 billion dong. By 31/12/2024, the Key Medical Project Management Board had advanced and paid over 1,900 billion dong to the contractors.

During contract implementation, after each advance or payment, contractors paid Mr. Thang an amount corresponding to 5% of the pre-tax value, totaling 37.8 billion dong. After Mr. Thang's retirement, Mr. Huu Tuan assumed the position of Deputy Director in charge of the Board and continued to receive a 5% amount, totaling 4.5 billion dong.

The former Bach Mai Hospital 2 project in Ha Nam province. Photo: Giang Huy

This consortium was one of several contractors involved in the two projects. Other consortia also paid 5% of their advance payments and won bids, including Hanoi Construction General Corporation - Hong Ha Vietnam Company, VNPT - CIDTT, Furtech Company - Xuan Hoa Company, Phu Hung Company - 190 Interior Joint Stock Company, Thanh Dat - Vinaconex 25, and AIC - Mopha.

C03 determined that these contractors completed work as per their contracts or the project owner's requests. However, the contracted items have not yet been fully accepted or paid. The enterprises incurred losses due to bank interest, maintenance, warranty, and bank guarantees.

Moreover, the contractors paid Mr. Thang and Mr. Huu Tuan in cash after winning the bids. These payments lacked invoices or documents and did not originate from advance payment funds, providing no basis to assess this amount as a consequence of damages. Currently, the contractors are cooperating with the project owner to maximize resources and bring the two projects into use.

Among these contractors, C03 collected documents related to four enterprises under the Ministry of National Defense: General Corporation 36, General Corporation 319, Thanh An General Corporation, and Armephaco Joint Stock Company. C03 has separated the actions and related documents concerning these contractors and transferred them to the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Ministry of National Defense for investigation and handling according to regulations.

Corresponding to the 5% payments, Mr. Thang and Mr. Huu Tuan received a total of over 100 billion dong. They testified that Mr. Thang subsequently gave Ms. Tien money multiple times, totaling over 20 billion dong. However, the former minister stated that she only received 2.5 billion dong from Mr. Thang and one payment of 5 billion dong from Mr. Tuan.

=>> List of ten defendants

During the investigation, the defendants and related individuals deposited a total of 44.7 billion dong to remedy the consequences. Of this, Ms. Tien deposited 14.5 billion dong, Mr. Thang one billion dong, Mr. Huu Tuan 3.7 billion dong, and Le Thanh Thiem 14 billion dong.

Additionally, C03 seized three real estate properties belonging to Mr. Thang in Hanoi and Ha Nam, one real estate property belonging to Mr. Huu Tuan in Ha Nam, and several real estate properties of other defendants.

C03 recommended that the Ministry of Health direct the project owner to coordinate with contractors, maximizing resources to bring the two projects into use as directed by the Government. The project owner must also settle accounts with contractors in accordance with regulations, ensuring no damage, loss, or waste of state assets.

The project to build new facilities for Bach Mai Hospital 2 and Viet Duc Friendship Hospital was approved in 2014 with a total investment capital of 9,958 billion dong. Each project is designed for 1,000 hospital beds and was implemented from 2014 to 2019, then extended two times until the end of 2024.

By the end of 2024, the two projects had disbursed 5,086 billion dong in state budget capital. However, during project implementation, Ms. Tien and others are accused of violations causing losses and waste of state assets exceeding 803 billion dong.

Pham Du