Vietnam jails officials for gambling, graft

HANOI, Aug 7 (Reuters) A Vietnam court has sentenced a senior government official to 13 years in jail and eight other people for up to seven years in a bribery and gambling scandal, state media reported today.

The Hanoi's People Court jailed Bui Tien Dung, former head of state-run road builder PMU 18, for seven years after finding him guilty of gambling, the Thanh Nien (Young People) daily said.

Dung was jailed for a further six years for giving bribes and the court fined him 1.2 billion dong (74,200 dollar) for both the gambling and bribery offences.

Eight other defendants in a trial that started last Wednesday, including Dung's driver and two former police officers, were jailed for between two and seven years for betting on soccer matches and giving bribes.

The scandal in the Transport Ministry-run PMU 18, responsible for building major roads and bridges, broke in late 2005 and Dung was detained in early 2006.

In April 2006, Transport Minister Dao Dinh Binh resigned even though he was not accused of any wrongdoing.

Police also detained his deputy, Nguyen Viet Tien, and accused him of breaking the law on economic management and of lax responsibility. But Tien has not faced trial.

The case has raised public interest and criticism, especially after Dung testified that he bet around 1 million dollar on soccer matches while the per-capital annual income of ordinary Vietnamese was just 640 dollar last year.

The PMU 18 case also raised concerns among donors about the use of aid. Japan and the World Bank are among international donors whose projects are being implemented by the unit.

But in May, the World Bank said a review launched after the scandal to look at Vietnam's road projects found no evidence of corruption against PMU 18 officials.

Reuters RN DB1037