The former Minister of Health received 18 years in prison for bribes of $2.25 million. Dozens of other officers were also sent to prison.
In Vietnam on Friday, January 12, a court jailed two former ministers and found dozens of officials guilty in a corruption scheme related to the theft of public funds to purchase COVID-19 tests, Reuters reports .
In a corruption case related to COVID-19 tests, former Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long received 18 years in prison for bribes of $2.25 million, and former Science Minister Chu Ngoc Anh received three years for maladministration. The court also imposed sentences ranging from 18 months to 15 years in prison for 35 other people, mostly officials, involved in the corruption scandal.
Punishment was also determined for two former ministers and several officials as part of an investigation into private medical company Viet A Technology Corp, which was accused of producing COVID-19 tests for the public health system at high prices.
We remind you that in Ukraine during the pandemic, fraud in the leadership of the Ministry of Health, which was then headed by Maxim Stepanov, and the purchase of vaccines at an inflated price were also investigated. However, the verdict was never pronounced.
In particular, accusations were made that it was because of Stepanov that the vaccination started later than it could have been, because the Ministry of Health wanted to conclude an agreement with another manufacturer. So, People’s Deputy Alexandra Ustinova, in connection with the state-owned enterprise Medical Procurement of Ukraine, said that it is negotiating the purchase of a vaccine against COVID-19 with the Indian company Serum Institute , but the Ministry of Health stopped negotiations here. manufacturer. It was found that the Indian vaccine is five times cheaper than the Chinese one purchased by the Ministry of Health.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.