Vietnam officials jailed in office rental scam connected to Japan-funded road project

Vietnam officials jailed in office rental scam

HANOI, Vietnam — A Vietnamese court sentenced two officials to up to three years in prison Friday for collecting $80,000 in rent from Japanese consultants but dividing it among colleagues instead of putting it in state coffers, a court official said.

The embezzled rent was part of a bigger scandal over a Japan-funded road construction project that prompted Tokyo — Vietnam’s biggest donor — to temporarily suspend millions of dollars in development loans in December and demand that Hanoi make more vigorous efforts to combat corruption.

Four Japanese executives at Pacific Consultants International, a company hired as a consultant on the road project, pleaded guilty in a Tokyo court in February to paying $820,000 in bribes to the former Vietnamese head of the road project, Huynh Ngoc Si.

Si and his deputy, Le Qua, were convicted Friday of “abuse of power and authority” in a trial in Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court, said Presiding Judge Nguyen Duc Sau. Si was sentenced to three years in prison and Qua to two years, he said.

State media have reported that in 2001 and 2002, Si and Qua rented part of their office to Pacific Consultants International.

They collected $80,000 in rent from the firm, which they were supposed to transfer to state coffers, but instead divided the money between themselves and 85 staffers in their office. Sau said Si took 52 million Vietnamese dong ($2,900) and Qua 53 million dong ($2,950).

Si and Qua were arrested in February.

Police continue to investigate bribery allegations against Si, state media have reported.