VietNamNet Bridge - Interpol Vietnam will investigate accusations that an Australian firm paid over US$10 million in bribes to a Hanoi-based company to secure a banknote-printing contract.

Allaster Cox, the Australian ambassador to Vietnam, told Tuoi Tre Wednesday that Australian police have sought and received permission to jointly investigate in Vietnam.

The case has been under federal investigation in that country since May last year.

According to Australian daily The Age, Securency, a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Australia, paid the commissions to Vietnamese executives at CFTD Technologies Co, Ltd to win a lucrative contract to supply polymer for printing banknotes in Vietnam.

CFTD was authorized by the State Bank of Vietnam to print the bills after the government decided in 2002 to replace all paper notes.

The incident caused a public furor after it was discovered that CFTD had employed Le Duc Minh, the son of Le Duc Thuy, the then governor of the central bank, for two months.

Allegations of nepotism led to an inspection in 2007 by the Government Inspectorate, a central agency responsible for financial investigations, which found no wrongdoing.

The Inspectorate concluded that CFTD had followed regulations in signing contracts, Minh’s employment at CFTD had been coincidental, but that it had unjustly tarnished the governor’s reputation.

Vietnam began to switch to polymer notes in 2002 but since then there have been several scandals related to blurring bills, fading ones, and fakes.

Source: Tuoi Tre