The Supreme People’s Procuracy is prosecuting
nine people for embezzling more than VND3.4 billion (US$173,400) in a bridge
project in Quang Ninh Province funded with Japanese Official Development
Assistance.

Leading
figure among those arrested is Bui Tien Dung, ex-executive director of Project
Management Unit 18 (PMU-18), a Ministry of Transport unit in charge of
construction of roads and other infrastructure.

Dung and
seven senior Transport Ministry officials have been charged with of embezzling
public property.

The Bai
Chay Bridge Project was funded by Japanese credits and Vietnamese budget money.
The Transport Ministry was the Government designated investor.

The
suspects are accused of making ghost payments to consultants to appropriate
VND1.6 billion, or almost half of the embezzled amount, and misspending the
remainder.

Dung was
involved in another bribery and gambling scandal three years ago. He was
sentenced to 13 years in prison. Two years later, he was given another
three-year sentence for abuse of power.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News