~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Vietnamese officials face embezzlement trial

Police in Vietnam say nine officials from a state-run company and a former customs officer will face trial on charges of embezzlement of state funds involving about $US1 million.

The director of the Import-Export Company of Yen Bai province, Nguyen Van Soang, and eight of his staff have been accused of pocketing money and bribing other provincial officials between 1992 and 1999. And a former customs officer, Nguyen Van Toan, has been charged with accepting $4,000 in bribes to help the others falsify a customs declaration in a timber export shipment.

Police have also discovered a list of 104 state officials who were bribed by the network, accepting cash and gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. A trial date has not yet been set. Some of the accused - all men - could face the death penalty if convicted.

ABC Radio Australia News - July 29, 2003