In a report to the Supreme People’s Procuracy, Vietnam’s highest prosecution agency, they suggested Thursday retaining charges of “abuse of power” against Vu Dinh Thuan, former deputy chief of the Government Office and head of Project 112 to computerize the national administrative system.
They also confirmed charges of “abuse of power” against the project secretary, Luong Cao Son.
Thuan and Son had originally been charged with both embezzlement and abuse of power for allegedly embezzling around VND1 billion (current US$56,230) from the VND3.83 trillion ($215.4 million) project.
Last month, the Supreme People’s Procuracy asked the Ministry of Public Security to find out the exact loss to the government caused by dubious printing and equipment deals.
Thuan and Son were arrested in September 2007 for conniving with several other officials to inflate printing costs of training materials and pocketing the difference.
They also allegedly received kickbacks from several IT companies like ISA, Toan Cau and Nhat Vinh in cash-for-contract deals.
Tran Tan Ngo, former general director of the Vietnam Book Corporation, and his two deputies Nguyen Thi Minh Thieu and Nguyen Thi Phuong Hoa, face charges of abuse of power for allegedly being accomplices in the scam.
A total of 20 people have so far been charged with involvement in the affair.
Launched in 2001, Project 112 aimed to install integrated software at administrative offices nationwide, train officials in IT, and link all agencies through one shared network.
Its management was entrusted to officials from the Government Office, a central bureau overseeing various administrative tasks.
But following financial, technical and legal problems like flawed software, wasteful spending, and poor planning, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung scrapped the project in April 2007, saying it had “failed to meet its target.”
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Duc Hoa
Quelle/Source: Thanh Nien Daily, 29.05.2009
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