After six days of trial and deliberation, the appellate court of the Supreme People's Court in Hanoi was scheduled to announce its verdict at 1:30 p.m. for Ms. Tien and other defendants in the case concerning irregularities at the Bach Mai and Viet Duc Hospital's second facilities project.
However, at the outset, presiding judge Vo Hong Son stated that before the verdict, four defendants had completed their mandatory compensation and expressed a desire to contribute more to address the case's extensive consequences.
Defendants Nguyen Doan Tu, Le Van Cu, Tran Van Sinh, and Nguyen Kim Trung all promised to influence their families to pay additional funds, though they did not specify the amounts.
Former minister Kim Tien was absent from the appellate hearing, citing ongoing medical treatment at Thong Nhat Hospital, TP HCM. However, her lawyer, present in court, stated that Ms. Tien wished to join her former colleagues in rectifying the damages.
She could pay an additional 1.1 billion VND this afternoon.
The trial court sentenced Ms. Tien to six years in prison and ordered her to compensate 108 billion VND. Previously, her son had paid 24 billion VND on her behalf; the remaining amount was fully paid by her family before the appellate hearing.
Ms. Tien sought a reduced sentence, a suspended sentence, and a review of her compensation obligation. However, the appellate procuracy argued that she did not meet the conditions for a suspended sentence, despite having paid all the money.
The court questioned: "What assurance do the defendants provide that they will pay?"
This afternoon, after hearing the defendants' statements, the judicial panel analyzed the extensive consequences of the case, which were divided into two amounts. The 70 billion VND in initial losses had largely been addressed.
However, the remaining over 600 billion VND represented wasted funds due to the project lying "dormant and unusable for many years", calculated based on bank interest on the invested capital.
Currently, the outstanding compensation for the case is approximately 574 billion VND.
"The court understands that the defendants do not possess these funds immediately. However, if promises are made, and the procuracy adjusts sentences based on those promises, but the payments are not made, that would be an issue. What if the defendants fail to keep their promises, as there is no binding agreement? It is both a right and an obligation. Rights are considered only after obligations are fulfilled," the court explained.
Expressing its view, the prosecution supported facilitating the defendants' full compensation for the case's consequences, leading the court to adjourn the session.
During this period, the defendants and their relatives could pay additional funds within their capacity.
The case originated from irregularities in the construction project for the second facilities of Bach Mai Hospital and Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, approved in 2014 with a total investment of nearly 10,000 billion VND.
The trial verdict identified irregularities spanning from the selection of foreign design consultants, preparation of bidding documents, bidding, direct contracting, to construction, causing losses and waste exceeding 700 billion VND.
Contractors also spent 100 billion VND in "kickbacks", with Ms. Tien identified as receiving 7.5 billion VND. In addition to compensating for damages, the defendants were also required to return illicit gains.
Pham Du - Thanh Lam
