Inspectors are mum about evidence gleaned from the recently-completed translation of material related to the trial of an official accused of taking bribes as head of a massive Ho Chi Minh City building project.

Si, former head of the East-West Highway and Water Environment project, is awaiting a trial for bribery and has already been convicted of abuse of power in another related case.

Si and his ex-deputy Le Qua, were arrested in February after a Japanese court convicted three executives from Tokyo-based Pacific Consultants International (PCI) of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Law, which bans the bribing of foreign government officials

The executives, who were given suspended sentences of 18 to 24 months, admitted to bribing Si with $2.6 million between 2002 and 2006 in exchange for helping the company win a consulting contract on the project funded with Japanese official development assistance (ODA), the Japanese daily Yomiuri newspaper reported last November.

At the moment the inspectorate was unsure when the investigation would close as Vietnamese and Japanese laws are very different, said Truyen, adding that investigators would try to come to conclusion as soon as possible.

The scandal had led Tokyo to temporarily suspend aid loans to Vietnam last December. But the Japanese government announced in late February that it would resume ODA to Vietnam.

Si and Qua, meanwhile, were sentenced to jail-terms of three and two years respectively early this month for abuse of power in a scheme in which they pocketed US$67,300 in rents when leasing an office to PCI from August 2001 to November 2002.

Prosecutors later demanded longer jail terms, of between 10 to 15 years each, saying the consequences caused by the violations were far more serious than the court recognized.

Source: Tuoi Tre