9 Vietnamese to face court in high-profile corruption case
HANOI - Three Vietnamese government officials and six other men will stand trial next month on charges of gambling and bribery in one of the country's most high-profile corruption scandals, a court official said Tuesday.
Bui Tien Dung, former head of a project management unit under Vietnam's Ministry of Transportation, and eight other defendants are accused of organized gambling, illegal betting and bribery, said Nguyen Dinh Hoa, an official at the Hanoi People's Court.
The case surfaced last year when police alleged Dung and three accomplices bet US$768,000 on European soccer matches, the official Vietnam News Agency reported. Dung allegedly put down US$760,000 of the total, reports have said. All gambling is illegal in Vietnam.
Dung then allegedly paid a bribe of US$68,000 to cover it up, the state-controlled news organization said.
If convicted of bribery, Dung could get the death penalty. The other defendants could face up to 20 years in jail, as their charges are less severe.
Police are still investigating allegations of corruption involving millions of dollars (euros) earmarked for construction projects. The money was largely development aid given by the World Bank and Japan.
Earlier this year, World Bank officials announced they had found some irregularities with aid distributed at the provincial level, but concluded no misuse of funds was uncovered in the two projects Dung's department had managed.
The scandal is one of Vietnam's biggest corruption cases and has dominated newspaper and television headlines.
It also led to the arrest of former Deputy Transportation Minister Nguyen Viet Tien and the resignation of Minister Dao Dinh Binh. Tien will not face trial in this case and Binh was not charged with any crime.
The Associated Press - July 24, 2007.
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