Ex-official tried for accepting bribes from Japanese firm

A former vice director of Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Transport stood trial Friday for accepting US$262,000 in bribes from leaders of a Japanese company while overseeing a major project in 2005.

If convicted, Huynh Ngoc Si, who was assigned to be in charge of the East-West Highway Project in 2000, may face the death sentence.

According to the indictment, in January 2001, the project’s management board invited five companies, including the Tokyo-based Pacific Consultants International (PCI), to bid on the project, which carried an investment of over 14 trillion (US$718.5 million).

PCI’s officials bribed Si in an effort to win a consulting and supervisory role in the project, according to prosecutors in both Japan and Vietnam.

Prosecutors said after several meetings, PCI agreed to pay Si 11 percent, or $1.7 million, of a supervision contract, and 10 percent, or $900,000, of a consulting contract.

On November 11, 2009 while standing trial in Tokyo, PCI leaders testified that they had bribed Si on six additional occasions. Japan prosecuted the officials for offering $820,000 in bribes.

However, Si was standing trial at home only for the $262,000 taken in bribes, because the deadline for initial investigations had passed, prosecutors said, adding that other allegations were being investigated further.

Si, who is currently serving a six-year jail term for "abuse of power" handed down to him in March, has denied all allegations.

Related Articles

• Ex-official tried for accepting bribes from Japanese firm
• Greenback firmer on signs of rising demand
• Lawmakers make field-trip to Vietnamese firms in Cambodia
• Life sentence proposed to former transport official
• Life sentence proposed for former transport official

Former project executive rejects bribery charges

Huynh Ngoc Si pictured at the trial on October 15, 2010

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Ho Chi Minh City People's Court opened Friday the trial of Huynh Ngoc Si, former deputy director of the HCMC Transport Department and director of the Japan-funded East-West Highway and Water Environment projects.

According to the indictment, Si took bribes worth US$262,000 from officials of the Japanese company Pacific Consultants International (PCI).

More than 30 reporters of press agencies were arranged to a room to watch the trial broadcast live.

"I did not take bribes"

After the court asked what he commented about the bribery charges laid against him, Si shook his head: "I totally reject the indictment. The charges against me were based solely on the testimonies of PCI officials, which are totally unfounded."

He repeatedly said "The testimony is not right” and “I did not do wrong" when he was questioned by the jury.

According to the indictment of the Supreme 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.

The sum was determined based on the percentage of contract value. PCI officials acknowledged that Si was the main “target” of their bribery.

Si told the trial he did not negotiate the “commission” with PCI officials when he was asked about the bribery sum.

The court heard the testimonies of Sakano Tsuneo, PCI chief representative in Vietnam, and Sakashita Haruo, PCI director of East-West Highway project, which were declared in documents issued by Japanese procurators and then handed over to the Vietnamese prosecution agency.

When he was asked to comment about the testimonies of PCI officials, Si said: "They are not true. I repeatedly asked to confront the PCI officials but was always turned down."

He rejected any personal contact with Japanese officials, but then added he met some officials at the Norfolk hotel in HCMC but did not remember clearly.

According to the testimonies of PCI officials, after they reached an agreement about the bribery sum, Si gave them a report of the criteria to win the contract, and PCI won the contract.

The indictment says PCI officials agreed to pay Si $1.7 million, or 11 percent of the contract value, in exchange for the supervision and consulting package.

It says PCI had paid Si seven times, including the time that they gave him $262,000 on May 28, 2003.

Only six of 13 summoned witnesses showed up at the trial. Among them was Le Qua, former deputy director of East -West Highway and Water Environment projects.

Last year, Qua was sentenced to five year in prison for conniving with Si to pocket money from renting a public house in District 3 to PCI executives.

Si and Qua were arrested on February 11 last year after the Ministry of Public Security began an investigation into the two infrastructure projects, estimated to cost US$930.9 million.

They were accused of renting state offices to PCI between 2001 and 2002 for a total of US$80,000 but not including the money in official accounts.

The two officials deducted VND350 million for "receptions", divided the rest among dozens of employees and managers, while each pocketed about VND53 million themselves.

The court will continue on until Monday.

Related Articles

• Life sentence proposed to former transport official
• Ex-official tried for accepting bribes from Japanese firm
• Assoc insists on power price hike despite protests
• Civil servants to enjoy State housing
• Party Central Committee office marks traditional day

HCMC transport official stand trial for bribery

Huynh Ngoc Si is former deputy director of HCMC Department of Transport

Photo: VNA

Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court began Friday a four-day trial of a former city official who was involved in a corruption case that led to the Japanese government suspending aid to Vietnam in 2008.

Huynh Ngoc Si, the former deputy director of the HCMC Transport Department, was charged with taking bribes totaling US$262,000 from a Japanese consulting company in exchange for the provision of consultancy services for a Japan-funded project.

Si, who doubles as the former director of the Japan-funded East-West Highway and the Water Environment Improvement projects in HCMC, was sentenced to three years in prison with “abuse of power” charges by the HCMC People’s Court after a two-day trial on September 25 last year.

Si’s ex-deputy, Le Qua, received two-year sentence with similar charges.

Si and Qua rented a house in HCMC’s District 3 to executives from Japan’s Pacific Consultants International (PCI), who paid US$5,000 a month to use the property as an office.

PCI officials paid a total $80,000 in rent in 2001 and 2002.

The house was owned by the project, but the executives were found guilty of pocketing the ‘rent money’ instead of passing it on to the project management board.

Four months after the trial, the Ministry of Security announced they laid “taking bribes” charges against Si under Article 279 of the Criminal Code.

A conviction on the charge can result in a jail sentence of seven years to death penalty.

The new trial was held at the request of the HCMC People’s Procuracy, which said the sentences given to the two officials were too lenient.

In December 2008, the Ministry of Public Security began a corruption investigation into the two infrastructure projects, estimated to cost $760 million, after an official request by the Tokyo prosecution agency.

According to the agency, PCI executives admitted in a Tokyo court they had given $820,000 between 2003 and 2006 to the former director of the projects to win consulting contracts.

At Vietnam’s request, Japan sent 3,050 pages of document regarding the PCI case to the Supreme People’s Procuracy in both English and Japanese late last year.

But it wasn’t until recently that the Vietnamese procurators announced they had finished the translation.

According to Vietnamese investigators, they found evidences that Si accepted $262,000 from PCI in May 2003, so they decided to lay “taking bribes” charges against him.

Si, who oversaw the two projects in his capacity of deputy director of HCMC Transport Department, was suspended from his post and all Party activities by the department’s Party Committee after the scandal.

In December 2008, Japan suspended its aid funding to Vietnam until the government took "meaningful" steps to eliminate corruption in public works programs.

Japan’s ODA program to Vietnam was resumed in early April last year.

At the new trial, 13 witnesses have been summoned, of which 10 are former officers of the East-West highway project. The three others are former officers of PCI.

Around 40 local and foreign reporters attended the trial.

Related Articles

• Japan helps Hanoi in industrial waste treatment
• Vietnam needs to heed black market, official rate gap, ADB says
• IFC: Vietnam needs to increase PPP to support economy
• Vietnamese companies penetrate Cambodian market
• Greenback firmer on signs of rising demand

Trial set for jailed transport official in Japanese graft case

A court in Ho Chi Minh City will open trial proceedings against a former transportation official for accepting US$262,000 in bribes from a Tokyo-based company seeking contracts for a major roadway project.

The trial of Huynh Ngoc Si – former head of the East-West Highway Project in HCMC and vice director of the city’s Department of Transport – is scheduled to begin on September 28 and last for three days, the court said on Tuesday (September 14).

On September 9, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, Vietnam’s highest prosecutor’s office, issued an indictment against Si, accusing the ex-official of committing crimes that could attract the death penalty.

Si, who is currently serving a six-year jail term for "abuse of power," has denied all wrongdoing.

According to the official indictment, Si was assigned to oversee the East-West Highway Project on September 26, 2000. Over VND14 trillion (US$718.5 million) in foreign and domestic funds had been set aside for the project.

In January 2001, the project’s management board invited five companies, including the Tokyo-based Pacific Consultants International (PCI), to bid on the project.

According to prosecutors in both Japan and Vietnam, PCI’s officials bribed Si in an effort to win a consulting and supervision role on the project. The indictment further alleges that Si took steps to ensure that PCI was treated generously after they had been selected for the job.

Prosecutors say that after several meetings, PCI agreed to pay Si 11 percent, or $1.7 million, of a supervision contract, and 10 percent, or $900,000, of a consulting contract.

Officials from the Japanese Ministry of Justice claim that on May 28, 2005, Si accepted $262,000 from Sakano Tsuneo, chief representative of PCI in Vietnam, and Takasu Kunio, former managing director of PCI, at his office.

On November 11, 2009 while standing trial in Tokyo, PCI leaders testified that they had bribed Si on six additional occasions. Japan prosecuted the officials for offering $820,000 in bribes.

Si is being brought to trial in Vietnam for the $262,000 bribes while other allegations are being investigated further. The deadline for the initial investigation has ended, according to prosecutors, creating something of a time crunch.

Si was convicted this March for illegally leasing office space to PCI from August 2001 and November 2002 and pocketing VND1.2 billion (currently $62,959) from the deal.

Related Articles

• Trial set for jailed transport official in Japanese graft case
• Another Vinashin official arrested
• Police arrest sixth official of troubled shipbuilder
• PM sets agenda for insolvent shipbuilder
• Rivers threatened by sand exploiters

Trial set for jailed transport official in Japanese graft case

A court in Ho Chi Minh City will open trial proceedings against a former transportation official for accepting US$262,000 in bribes from a Tokyo-based company seeking contracts for a major roadway project.

The trial of Huynh Ngoc Si – former head of the East-West Highway Project in HCMC and vice director of the city’s Department of Transport – is scheduled to begin on September 28 and last for three days, the court said on Tuesday (September 14).

On September 9, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, Vietnam’s highest prosecutor’s office, issued an indictment against Si, accusing the ex-official of committing crimes that could attract the death penalty.

Si, who is currently serving a six-year jail term for "abuse of power," has denied all wrongdoing.

According to the official indictment, Si was assigned to oversee the East-West Highway Project on September 26, 2000. Over VND14 trillion (US$718.5 million) in foreign and domestic funds had been set aside for the project.

In January 2001, the project’s management board invited five companies, including the Tokyo-based Pacific Consultants International (PCI), to bid on the project.

According to prosecutors in both Japan and Vietnam, PCI’s officials bribed Si in an effort to win a consulting and supervision role on the project. The indictment further alleges that Si took steps to ensure that PCI was treated generously after they had been selected for the job.

Prosecutors say that after several meetings, PCI agreed to pay Si 11 percent, or $1.7 million, of a supervision contract, and 10 percent, or $900,000, of a consulting contract.

Officials from the Japanese Ministry of Justice claim that on May 28, 2005, Si accepted $262,000 from Sakano Tsuneo, chief representative of PCI in Vietnam, and Takasu Kunio, former managing director of PCI, at his office.

On November 11, 2009 while standing trial in Tokyo, PCI leaders testified that they had bribed Si on six additional occasions. Japan prosecuted the officials for offering $820,000 in bribes.

Si is being brought to trial in Vietnam for the $262,000 bribes while other allegations are being investigated further. The deadline for the initial investigation has ended, according to prosecutors, creating something of a time crunch.

Si was convicted this March for illegally leasing office space to PCI from August 2001 and November 2002 and pocketing VND1.2 billion (currently $62,959) from the deal.

Related Articles

• Trial set for jailed transport official in Japanese graft case
• Another Vinashin official arrested
• Police arrest sixth official of troubled shipbuilder
• PM sets agenda for insolvent shipbuilder
• Rivers threatened by sand exploiters