HCMC – Ministry of Public Security investigators on April 22 arrested Nguyen Nhat Cam, director of the Hanoi Center for Disease Control (CDC), and six others for alleged price gouging on real-time PCR detection systems used for Covid-19 testing.

Cam, born in 1963, and two other employees of the center---Nguyen Vu Ha Thanh, 41, head of the Hanoi CDC’s financial and accounting department, and Le Xuan Tuan, 38, an employee of the same department---were found to have violated bidding regulations, leading to serious consequences, according to the ministry's investigation agency.

The other four, who allegedly committed the same violations as Cam, are Dao The Vinh, 45, director of Vietnam Trading and Material Science Company; Nguyen Tran Duy, 40, general director of Nhan Thanh Property Valuation and Auction JSC; Nguyen Ngoc Nhat, 34, an employee of Vitech Development Company; and Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, 35, an employee of Phuong Dong Medical Equipment Company.

The results of the preliminary investigation showed that these suspects had colluded with each other, cheated and inflated the price of the bidding package for the purchase of real-time PCR detection systems, the local media reported, citing the investigation agency.