Vietnam's Health Minister Arrested Over COVID Test Gouging

State media say Vietnam's health minister and the mayor of the capital Hanoi have been arrested in an investigation into massive price gouging of COVID-19 tests.

By Associated Press

|

June 8, 2022, at 1:53 a.m.

Save

More

U.S. News & World Report

Vietnam's Health Minister Arrested Over COVID Test Gouging

More

The Associated Press

FILE - A health worker takes sample from a man for COVID-19 test in Hanoi, Vietnam on Friday, Jan. 6, 2022. Vietnam’s health minister and the mayor of the capital Hanoi have been arrested as part of an expanding investigation into massive price gouging of COVID-19 tests, state media reported Tuesday, June 7, 2022. (AP Photo/ Hau Dinh, File) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam’s health minister and the mayor of the capital Hanoi have been arrested as part of an expanding investigation into massive price gouging of COVID-19 tests, state media reported.

Nguyen Thanh Long was dismissed from his ministry post and Chu Ngoc Anh, who previously was the science minister, was fired as Hanoi mayor, Tuoi Tre online news outlet reported Tuesday. They are being investigated for abuse of power, according to the Ministry of Public Security, and have been expelled from the ruling Communist Party.

Recommended Videos

Powered by AnyClip

Weekly testing to end for LAUSD students, teachers

343

Play Video

Ad

Weekly testing to end for LAUSD students, teachersNOW PLAYING

VP Kamala Harris Tests Positive for COVID

How to Find Free COVID-19 Medication

A Trick to Finding COVID-19 Tests in Stock Online

Onlookers Accuse Police of Failing To Take Action To Stop Texas School Shooting

An investigation concluded earlier that mismanagement in the science and health ministries had allowed Viet A Technology Corporation to inflate prices for test kits supplied to hospitals and health centers in Vietnam.

Nearly 60 suspects including ministry officials, public health leaders and military generals have been detained or are being investigated for involvement in the price gouging, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

The report said the two officials' violations had harmed Vietnam's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and were costly to the state budget.

Political Cartoons on World Leaders

View All 166 Images

Political Cartoons

View All 519 Images

A deputy science minister, Pham Cong Tac, also was arrested Tuesday and accused of violating regulations on managing state assets.

Viet A took in $172 million for supplying its test kits in 62 localities. Its general director was arrested in December and allegedly admitted his Ho Chi Minh City-based company had inflated the selling price of a test kit to about $20, or 45% more than the original, to earn a difference of $21.5 million.

Phan Quoc Viet allegedly confessed to investigators that he paid illegal kickbacks worth $34 million to his state-owned partners who bought his test kits at the inflated prices.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.