A police officer in Vietnam's Hanoi capital has been prosecuted for attempting to help diminish charges against a corrupt ministry official, local newspaper Youth reported Thursday.

Lieutenant colonel Nguyen Dinh Toan, former deputy head of the Police Office of Nga Tu So ward, Dong Da district, was prosecuted on Wednesday by the People's Supreme Procuracy for indirectly receiving 9,000 U.S. dollars and 50 million Vietnamese dong (3,100 U.S. dollars) from Bui Tien Dung, general director of the Project Management Unit No.18 (PMU18) under the Transport Ministry, who has been prosecuted for the four charges of gambling, intentionally acting counter to state regulations in economic management, giving and receiving bribes.

After receiving the money via one of Dung's subordinates, Toan was supposed to approach other influential figures, campaigning for slighter charges against the general director. However, Toan has yet to do the lobbying, and already handed in the money to local police.

In January, Dung was detained for spending millions of U.S. dollars on making bets on international soccer matches. Since then, local investigators have detected some other wrongdoing of the general director, his underlings and superiors, including a deputy transport minister.

Local police have recently detained the underlings for trying to bribe some influential figures including Cao Ngoc Oanh, head of the Investigation Agency and deputy head of the General Directorate of Police under the Ministry of Public Security.

Although there has been no evidence against Oanh so far, the Ministry of Public Security has already relieved him from the post of head of the Investigation Agency.

Source: Xinhua