VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Public Security took into custody six railway officials last Friday on charges of "abusing power while on duty" and "irresponsibility causing serious consequences" following a one-month investigation.

Illustrative image. – File photo

Of the six railway officials, only Tran Quoc Dong, 50, deputy general director of the Viet Nam Railways Corporation, was charged with "irresponsibility causing serious consequences".

The other officials were charged with "abusing power while on duty."

Those five officials were identified as Pham Hai Bang, 45, deputy director of Viet Nam Railways Authority's Railway Project Management Unit; Pham Quang Duy, 39, deputy director of the unit; Nguyen Nam Thai, 37, head of project No 3 under the unit; Tran Van Luc, 56, the former director of the unit; and Nguyen Van Hieu, 52, director of the unit.

The public security ministry said the move was taken under the order of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to investigate allegations after a Japanese newspaper reported that a Tokyo-based railway consulting firm had admitted to paying JPY80 million, about US$780,000, to win a $41 million railway project in Viet Nam, funded by the Japanese government's official development assistance (ODA) fund.

The accused firm, Japan Transportation Consultants, Inc (JTC), was involved in the ongoing Ha Noi City Urban Railway Construction Project (Line 1).

Source: VNS