Police in Vietnam have arrested head of a provincial agency and placed his deputy under house arrest for abetting a bogus project whose head swindled US$10 million.The offices and houses of Mai Duc Chinh, director of the central Khanh Hoa province’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment, and deputy director Vu Xuan Thieng, were also raided.
It is alleged that when Chinh was director of the Land and Housing Department, and Thieng was head of Zoning and Land Allocation Section, they violated economic regulations.
Viet Lam reports the alleged offences relate to the issue a land use certificate for the Rulsalka beach resort project even though the project promoter had not paid the fees and rental, or signed a lease contract.
The promoter was Rus-Invest-Tur, a Russian-invested tourism company, whose director Nguyen Duc Chi was arrested last year for fraud.The certificate, which said Chi had the right to use 43.6 hectares of prime beach front in the popular resort town of Nha Trang, enabled him to can many people and banks to secure loans.
