PMU 18 scandal

Scandal in Vietnam
The PMU 18 scandal is a multi million dollar political corruption scandal at the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport (Bộ Giao thông Vận tải, GTVT) at the beginning of 2006, which involved embezzlement, bribery, nepotism, and gambling. The scandal received extensive press coverage in Vietnam, a rarity in the one party state. It generated a great public outcry in Vietnam and controversy in other countries and at organizations that provided Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the country. Due to the scandal, Transport Minister Đào Đình Bình was forced to resign and his deputy was arrested. The scandal became a major issue leading up to the Tenth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, when the government leadership was being reviewed. In the aftermath of the scandal, in 2007 the Vietnamese government clamped down on journalists reporting on the case. In 2008, two prominent journalists were tried and convicted of "abusing democratic freedoms" and propagating "false information". Two police officers involved in the case were also convicted of "disclosing work secrets".

Project Management Unit 18 (PMU 18) is a bureau within the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport for road construction and other infrastructure projects. As of 2006 it had a budget of 2 billion USD, which included funds from overseas donors, notably Japan, the European Union, Australia and the World Bank.

In early January 2006, :vi:Bùi Tiến Dũng, Executive Director of PMU 18, was detained, and it was announced that 1.8 million dollars had been embezzled to gamble on football matches. He was also accused of using the payouts to pay for prostitutes. The police found files inside the unit's computers revealing that over 200 employees at the unit had participated in the gambling. He is also under investigation over the procurement of luxury vehicles for other government officials. The scandal affected many high ranking officials. It was revealed that Bùi Tiến Dũng attempted to bribe officials after his arrest. People in the Prime Minister's office were investigated and the General Secretary's son in law was also implicated. A vice chief of police was implicated and withdrew his name from the list of delegates to the National Congress. In early April 2006, Transport Minister Đào Đình Bình resigned, accepting responsibility for the embezzlement of millions of dollars of state money by his staff. In mid 2007, police questioned dozens of journalists who covered the case for the sources of certain published information. In May 2008, two reporters were arrested for "abuse of power for personal gain" while reporting about the scandal. However, several days later, the newspapers were silent on the topic, and newspapers that continued to report it reportedly received warnings from the authorities. In October 2008, the journalists were convicted of "abusing democratic freedoms" and propagating "false informations" and the police officers were convicted of "disclosing work secret".