Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on Monday delivered the life sentence to Huynh Ngoc Si, former deputy director of the HCMC Transport Department and director of the Japan-funded East-West Highway and Water Environment projects.
The judges said Si took bribes worth US$262,000 from officials of the Japanese company Pacific Consultants International (PCI).
According to the indictment of the HCMC People’s Procuracy, PCI officials agreed to pay bribes in order to win a bidding package for supervision and consulting services of the East-West Highway project.
Si was ordered to pay the money back, with two of his houses would be seized as well.
The judges said his act had seriously affected the reputation of Vietnamese authorities in implementing ODA-funded projects.
The severe punishment for him will assure the public’s confidence in the fight against corruption of the Party and State, according to the judges.
The court also asked the prosecution agency to further investigate the case to find whether Si took more than $2 million from PCI executives as previously stated in their testimonies.
Si is already serving a six-year jail term for “abuse of power” conviction. He was sentenced to three years in September last year for pocketing $2,900 in office rent to PCI. In March this year an appeals court increased his jail term to six years.
