HANOI: Vietnamese police arrested a deputy health minister on Wednesday (Sept 2) for allegedly accepting huge bribes, part of a probe into a company accused of smuggling medical equipment, authorities said.
Communist Vietnam has pursued a high-profile anti-corruption campaign in recent years that has netted dozens of business leaders and senior government figures.
Deputy Health Minister Tran Van Thuan, a leading oncologist in Vietnam, was taken into custody "due to his acceptance of bribes involving a large sum of money", the public security ministry said in a statement, without specifying the amount.
Thuan, 56, was appointed deputy health minister in 2020 and chairman of the National Medical Council in 2024.
His arrest came as part of a police investigation involving "smuggling" and "violations of accounting regulations causing serious consequences" at Viet My Medical Investment Joint Stock Company, the ministry's statement said.
Police have arrested two executives and an accountant at the firm, which was allegedly set up to trade, resell and inflate the prices of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals before importing them from Singapore and Hong Kong into Vietnam, state media said.
Police also accuse company leaders of attempting to illegally import medical equipment.
AFP was unable to contact the company for comment.
Vietnam's sweeping anti-corruption drive, accelerated by President To Lam, has removed many of his opponents, according to analysts, leaving him as the country's most dominant leader in decades.
In May, former health minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien was imprisoned for six years over her mismanagement of hospital projects, state media said.
Tien was rocked by corruption scandals in previous years, and was once voted the least popular official by lawmakers in the one-party state. - AFP
