Three Vietnamese state inspectors proposed to be prosecuted for bribery charges

Three officials of the Economic Inspection Department No. 2 under Vietnam's State Inspectorate have been proposed to be prosecuted for three charges, including bribe giving and taking, according to local newspaper New Hanoi on Friday.

Investigation results show that the department's deputy director Luong Cao Khai and two other deputies, Duong Van Luc and Bui Xuan Bay, had received a total of over 18,000 U.S. dollars from some local enterprises, affiliated to the state-owned Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation.

Khai alone received bribes of nearly 14,000 dollars. The Investigation Agency under the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security proposed the People's Supreme Procuracy prosecute him for all the three charges. After receiving the bribes, he tried to bribe his superior.

In the 2001-2003 period, the three men were in charge of inspecting mismanagement of the enterprises' officials in constructing some petroleum works, which led to losses of state monies. They drafted inspection results, suggesting some corporate officials in charge of the works be held criminally responsible. However, in their official report, they no longer proposed that.

Crude oil is now Vietnam's biggest hard currency earner, fetching the country nearly 1.1 billion dollars in the first two months of this year. It exported over 16.6 million tons of the item valued more than 8.3 billion dollars last year.

Source: Xinhua