On the second-day of his interrogation by police in Hanoi Wednesday deputy transport minister Nguyen Viet Tien denied any responsibility in the buying and lending of cars by an agency under his ministry.
Thahnien News reported that Nguyen Viet Tien, who was questioned over the large scale import of cars and their lending by road-building agency Project Management Unit 18 (PMU18), said he was not involved with it.
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A Hanoi police official said PMU18 had, since April 1998, had bought 150 luxury cars with public money, the daily newspaper reported.
The official also said the agency’s general director, Bui Tien Dung, had unlawfully “lent” 34 of the cars to other agencies and officials. Tien himself “borrowed” two cars, one of them worth VND1.2 billion (US$75,500).
However, Tien denied any responsibility and laid the blame on Dung though he told the police that it was necessary for PMU18 to buy a large number of cars for use in its construction projects.
A source said the police estimated Bui Tien Dung to have assets worth VND150 billion ($9.4 million) and that they were looking into Nguyen Viet Tien’s assets.
