Hanoi (VNA) – The Hanoi People's Court on March 17 commenced the first-instance trial of 13 defendants for their involvement in the case of violating bidding regulations that led to serious consequences at the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT), the Advanced International Joint Stock Company (AIC) and relevant units.
The fugitive defendant, Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan (born 1969), chairwoman and general director of AIC, who is wanted by authorities, is being tried in absentia as per the court's decision. This is the eighth time Nhan has been tried in absentia. The defendant has been sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison from previous verdicts for "giving bribes and violating bidding regulations that led to serious consequences" as specified in Clause 3, Article 222 of the Penal Code.
According to the indictment announced at the trial by the Supreme People's Procuracy, the project "Procurement of equipment and technical services for monitoring and analysing cybersecurity incidents and attacks on certain international Internet channels" was led by VNCERT as the investor. During implementation, VNCERT conducted a domestic open bidding process for Package No. 8, which involved the procurement of equipment and software systems.
Defendants from the investor, contractor, valuation unit, and project consulting unit colluded and engaged in bidding fraud, violating procurement regulations to secure Package No. 8 for AIC, causing a loss of over 17 billion VND (over 665,000 USD) for the state.
In this case, Nhan directed her subordinates to collude with the investor to secure the contract for AIC. Additionally, she also committed fraud in preparing the bidding documents, enabling the company to win the package with a total value of over 70 billion VND.
During the bidding process, to ensure AIC met the requirements for the package, the firm falsified documents, including fabricated employment contracts, to inflate the work experience of key personnel in the IT field. Despite AIC failing to meet the contract performance and key personnel evaluation criteria, the defendants from the investor side still issued a report deeming AIC technically qualified, allowing it to proceed to the financial proposal stage.
On November 22, 2017, defendant Nguyen Trong Duong, former Deputy Director of the Department of Financial Planning under the Ministry of Information and Communications, and former Director of VNCERT, signed a decision approving AIC as the winning bidder for Package No. 8.
At the trial, Duong admitted to receiving 1 billion VND from AIC and instructing Duong Thi Minh, VNCERT's chief accountant, to distribute the money to project members during the Lunar New Year 2029. Duong himself received 200 million VND, while other defendants received from 20 million VND to 50 million VND. Duong admitted to the charges and confirmed the accuracy of the indictment.
The trial is expected to last one week./.
