Expressway builder VEC’s former head arrested

Mai Tuan Anh, former chairman and general director of state-run Vietnam Expressway Corporation, and six others were arrested on Tuesday in an investigation case related to the Danang - Quang Ngai expressway project.

The Ministry of Public Security’s investigative police detained Anh for his alleged “lack of responsibility causing serious consequences” under Article 360 of the Criminal Code.

Six others including leaders of VEC and executives of the Da Nang-Quang Ngai expressway project were also arrested and put under investigation for “violating regulations on construction investment causing serious consequences,” according to Article 224 of the Criminal Code.

The investigating agency has accused the suspects of having loose management when implementing the project and violating the regulations on investment in the process of organising construction and certifying the quality of construction in the project phase 2. The violations allegedly led to poor quality of the project, causing damage to the state.

Phase 1 of the case was tried in December 2021, with 36 defendants. Two former deputy directors of VEC, Le Quang Hao and Nguyen Manh Hung, were sentenced to six and seven years in prison, respectively, for “violating regulations on construction investment, causing serious consequences.”

The remaining 34 defendants received sentences ranging from 2 years of probation to eight years and six months of imprisonment, of these 10 received suspended sentences.

A Japanese defendant was exempted from criminal charges and deported since he had participated in many key projects in Vietnam and due to his old age, sincere declaration, having no self-seeking motives and sincere confession.

The Da Nang-Quang Ngai expressway has a total length of more than 139 km, spanning from Da Nang city to Quang Ngai province. It embarked on construction in May 2013.

The project uses loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), loans from the World Bank and reciprocal capital from the Vietnamese government, totaling more than VND34 trillion (nearly $1.49 billion).

The inspection conclusion stated that 65 km of the expressway in phase 1 did not meet the technical standards and design requirements, causing damage of VND811 billion ($35.44 million) to the state. This is the value of the work items that do not ensure quality, but have been appraised, accepted and paid for by the investor and related units.