Former official gets three years in Japanese graft case

Published: 24/09/2009 05:00

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Huynh Ngoc Si, former head of the East-West Highway and Water Environment project, was sentenced to three years in prison

The former head of Ho Chi Minh City’s largest infrastructure development was sentenced to three years in prison Friday for illegally pocketing office rent from a Japanese firm working on the project.

The Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Court’s ruling was softer than the 5-6 years prosecutors had sought for Huynh Ngoc Si, former head of the East-West Highway and Water Environment project.

The court ruled that Si and his former deputy Le Qua were guilty of abusing their power when they had rented an office to Tokyo-based Pacific Consultants International (PCI) from August 2001 to November 2002 without reporting the lease in order to keep US$67,300 in rents.

But the court said its decision was lenient as the two had made many contributions to the project and the country.

Qua was sentenced to two years behind bars.

“Si has a good record. He has accomplished many good things during his career. His family also made great contributions to the nation during the war,” local newswire VietNamNet quoted the verdict as saying.

“Similarly, Qua has been dedicated to the cause of the nation for a long time. Now he is retired and is not in good health,” said the verdict.

Si and Qua were arrested in February after a Japanese court convicted three PCI executives of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Law, which bans the bribing of foreign government officials.

The convicted Japanese executives were handed suspended sentences of 18 to 24 months.

The Japanese court ruled that PCI had given Si a total of $820,000 in kickbacks to secure consulting contracts on the East-West Highway and Water Environment project, which is funded with Japanese official development assistance (ODA).

Source: Thanh Nien

Provide by Vietnam Travel

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