“There is evidence to press charges [against Huynh Ngoc Si],” Minister of Public Security Le Hong Anh told Tuoi Tre on the sidelines of a law enforcement conference.

He said investigators had uncovered the evidence after translated documents supplied by Japanese authorities who conducted their own investigation earlier.

However, Anh said police had not been able to pinpoint other individuals involved in the case and the investigation was ongoing.

Si, former head of the East-West Highway and Water Environment project, and his ex-deputy Le Qua were arrested in February 2009 after a Japanese court convicted three Japanese 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 US$2.6 million between 2002 and 2006 in exchange for helping the company win a consulting contract on the project, the Japanese daily newspaper Yomiuri reported in November 2008.

Si and Qua were sentenced to jail-terms of three and two years respectively in October 2009 for abuse of power for pocketing $67,300 in rent while illegally 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 sentencing provided.

Source: Thanh Nien, Agencies