The Yomiuri Shimbun of Japan reported that JTC President Tamio Kakinuma admitted the Tokyo-based railway consultant firm had offered corrupt financial incentives to a number of Vietnamese railway officials to win the bidding package for a Japanese ODA-funded railway project in Vietnam.

Tamio Kakinuma confessed to the alleged bribes during questioning by the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office.

Several Japanese newspapers reported JTC had paid Vietnamese officials JPY80 million worth of kickbacks to win a JPY4.2 billion railway contract. 

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said the ministry has just learned about the news and immediately asked relevant agencies to clarify the time and those responsible for the project.

Tran Ngoc Thanh, President of Vietnam Railways’ Member Board, said Vietnam Railways (VNR) has yet to receive any official sources of information or request for investigation from Japan.

However, it held a meeting with the project management board and concerned parties on March 23, urging them to verify the source.

VNR will deal strictly with any violation if found, Thanh said, adding he did not rule out the possibility of establishing an independent body to investigate the case.

JTC has won several infrastructure construction projects in Vietnam. In 2005, it teamed up with the Pacific Consultants International (PCI) and the Japan Railway Technical Service (JARTS) in a consortium of contractors to provide services for the Hanoi-HCM City railway route project.

Under the contract, the consortium conducted a feasibility study and  technical design, supervised project implementation, and supported VNR in improving its infrastructure management capacity. It cost nearly VND150 billion and took 56 months to complete.

In 2009, a Vietnam-Japan consultants group, comprising Vietnam’s Transport Investment and Construction Consultant JSC (TRICC), JTC, JARTS, and Nippon Koei, proposed Japan’s Shinkansen technology for an express railway project in Vietnam.

Later that year Vietnam’s Investigation Agency prosecuted Huynh Ngoc Si, former director of the ODA-funded East-West Avenue project in HCM City, for taking bribes from PCI. Si was then sentenced to 20 years in prison.