Vietnam Ex Health Minister Gets 18 Years In Jail Over Covid Test Kits Scam: Report

The verdict comes as Vietnam intensifies its years-long anti-graft campaign that has seen hundreds of senior officials investigated for corruption.

A court in Vietnam on Friday sentenced former Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long to 18 years in prison after finding him guilty of taking bribes in a coronavirus test kit scandal, state media reported.

Nguyen Thanh Long was accused of taking bribes worth $2.25 million in the scandal, in which a local firm was accused of colluding with officials to commission a state-funded research unit to produce and overstate its prices of coronavirus test kits, Phap Luat Online newspaper said.

Reuters could not immediately reach Nguyen Thanh Long's lawyers for comment.