Vietnam charges official with taking Japanese bribes

Jan 27, 2010, 5:16 GMT

Hanoi - Vietnamese prosecutors have brought new charges against a former transportation official involved in corruption on a Japanese-financed highway project.

Huynh Ngoc Si, 57, the former head of Ho Chi Minh City's transportation authority, was convicted in December of being involved in corruption from 2003 to 2008 on a city highway project.

Procuracy official Ngo Si Lien told the German Press Agency dpa that Si would now also be charged with receiving bribes from a Japanese consulting firm.

The official Vietnam News reported Wednesday that Si and his deputy, Le Qua, had received 66,500 dollars from Pacific Consultants International.

Si already faces three years in prison for 'abusing power and authority' after his December trial. Le Qua was sentenced to two years in prison on the same charges.

The new charges against Si carry penalties ranging from 20 years in prison to death.

The charges against Si first came to light in the summer of 2008 when Pacific Consultants International officers on trial for corruption in Japan testified they had paid about 800,000 dollars in bribes to Si and other Vietnamese officials.

Japan briefly suspended official development assistance to Vietnam in early 2009 because of Vietnam's failure to bring charges against Si. Aid resumed after Si was arrested.

Vietnamese business leaders welcomed the new charges.

'It proves the Vietnamese government is fighting corruption actively,' said Nguyen Tran Bat, chairman of Hanoi-based InvestConsult. 'It also helps improve Vietnam's image in Japanese people's eyes.'

Construction on the 22-kilometre East-West Highway in Ho Chi Minh City began in 2005. The project was expected to cost 14 trillion dong (750 million dollars).

Pacific Consultants International is one of the main contractors on the project.