Judges claim that Huynh Ngoc Sis’ actions in the PCI/East West scandal were “dangerous” but “contribution to society” prevents a heavier sentence.

From the left: Le Qua and Huynh Ngoc Si at the court.

Meanwhile Si’s deputy, who enjoyed similar mitigation, was sentenced to two years.

The judge condemned the pair for their criminal actions while outlining how much they could have achieved in their posts. Both were imprisoned for “abuse of power”.

Previously, the HCM City People’s prosecutor had proposed 5-6 years each in jail for the pair – this was, in itself, a step down from legal guidelines suggesting up to 15 years.

According to judges Si and Qua abused their power to lease the East-West office building, No. 3 Nguyen Thi Dieu, District 3, HCM City to Japan’s PCI to earn over 1.1 billion dong. This sum of money was squandered by the East-West Highway and Water Environment Improvement project management board as well as 87 employees all taking a share. In total Si pocketed 52 million dong cash and Qua nearly 54 million dong.

Judges also labeled Si the ring leader in the scandal and as the top official in the East-West Highway and Water Environment Improvement project he was penalized most heavily. However, the court recognized Si’s contribution to society including receiving many medals. His family was also adjudged to have served the country well during the wars.

Meanwhile judges said Le Qua was directly involved in making the deal with PCI and using and sharing the money. However, in mitigation he showed remorse and tried to make amends including voluntarily handing over more than 400 million dong. As a scientist he was also seen to have served society.

Court chairman Nguyen Duc Sau said that before the trial, the HCM City People’s Court had been petitioned by various agencies asking the court to consider the defendants’ records in mitigating the subsequent penalty.

VietNamNet/VNE