The Supreme People’s Procuracy on Sept. 9 prosecuted Huynh Ngoc Si, former director of the Management Board of the ODA-funded East-West Avenue project in Ho Chi Minh City, on charges of “taking bribes”.

According to the procuracy’s indictment, Si took 262,000 USD from executives of Japan ’s Pacific Consultants International (PCI) for awarding design and supervision consultancy contracts to the company.

As the ex-PCI officials, who were prosecuted on charges of bribery and violations of Japan ’s anti-competition laws, confessed that Si received their bribes seven times in total, the Ministry of Public Security’s Investigation Agency decided to continue further investigation.

The ex-employees with Japan’s PCI claimed that they gave Si bribes totaling 800,000 USD in exchange for the provision of consultancy services for the East-West Avenue project. The bribes were given between 2003 and 2006, at a time when the project in Ho Chi Minh City was underway.

The East-West Avenue project was approved in 2000. It used the Japanese Government’s ODA and Vietnam ’s capital.

On September 25, 2009, Si was sentenced to three years in jail on charges of “abuse of power” when carrying out the East-West Avenue and HCM City Water Environment Improvement project./.