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Minister resigns in wake of big corruption scandal

Vietnamese Transport Minister Dao Dinh Binh resigned yesterday amid a corruption scandal involving a crooked state construction company that reportedly skimmed off millions of dollars in government funds, an official confirmed.

Binh sent a letter of resignation yesterday morning to the ruling Communist Party's Politburo, which had been considering whether to suspend him for failing to prevent the scandal. Binh's "self-criticism" had earlier been rejected by Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.

"Mr. Binh wrote the resignation letter yesterday, and the letter has already been sent this morning," the transport minister's secretary, Bui Nguyen Long, confirmed yesterday.

Binh's deputy minister, Nguyen Viet Tien, was removed from office last week under similar suspicion and is under police investigation.

Binh is the highest-ranking official to be caught up in controversy surrounding the state construction company known as Project Management Unit 18 (PMU18). He is a member of the party's elite 150-member Central Committee, second only to the Politburo.

PMU18 is now believed to have embezzled about US$7 million in state funds meant for road and bridge construction. Much of the money reportedly went to bet on football matches in a widespread gambling ring also involving state officials, police said.

The widening investigation marked the latest in a series of high-level corruption cases that have scandalized Vietnam, rattling the ruling Communist Party as it prepares for its national congress to be held later this month.

PMU18's director, Bui Tien Dung, was arrested in January for investigation on gambling and bribery charges.

At least two Vietnamese journalists covering the scandal have been beaten up or threatened in the case, local media reported.
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