Tien, who was arrested by the investigation police, said there were wrong doings in implementing construction projects such as Pha Lai bridge, National Highway No 2 and National Highway No 18’s section from Bac Ninh province to Noi Bai International Airport, and the indiscriminate use of State cars, causing losses worth billions of Vietnamese dong.

However, he did not give a full account of his big alleged property, including farmland and luxurious villas.     

In another development, lieutenant colonel Nguyen Dinh Toan from Hanoi’s Dong Da district police recently handed over US$9,000 to the investigation agency he received from Nguyen Mau Thon, head of the Management Board and Director General of Hoa Viet Joint Stock Company. Thon was taken into custody for his alleged involvement in a bribery-giving ring relating to the corruption scandal at the Project Management Unit 18 (PMU 18).

Toan recalled that he uncovered US$9,000 in an envelope sent to a recent funeral of his relatives as an offer to the deceased. He found out that the sum was from Thon.

Meanwhile, the PMU 18 Party leadership reviewed the responsibilities of Party cells and Party members following serious wrongdoings in economic and personnel management at PMU 18.

In the spirit of criticism and self-criticism, Party members held that they did not strictly control, uncover and combat negative phenomena in the management of investment projects, finance and public property, as well as decadent lifestyles of several cadres and Party members at PMU 18.