Hanoi - A Ho Chi Minh City man created a fake circular from Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to win a property dispute, a police official said Wednesday.

But Vietnam's Supreme Procuracy stopped police from prosecuting the man, said Tran Dinh Phe, head of the Advisory Section of Ho Chi Minh City's Social Order Crime Investigation Department.

Phe said he did not know why the office prevented police from arresting businessman Vu Dinh Hong, who allegedly drew up the fake document.

"You should ask the People's Supreme Procuracy to explain," Phe said.

Ngo Quang Lien, head of Vietnam's Supreme Procuracy, told German Press dpa that the office "has its reasons."

The state-run newspaper Lao Dong reported Wednesday that the case stemmed from a 1993 land dispute between two men, Vu Tuan Thanh and Duong Thi Chi, who each claimed to own a 3,000-square-metre plot in the Tan Phu district of Ho Chi Minh City.

In 2006, Ho Chi Minh City's People's Committee awarded Vu Tuan Khanh 720 square metres of the land, while Duong Thi Chi was granted 160 square metres. The rest was handed back to the Tan Phu District government.

Disagreeing with the city's decision, Khanh's son Vu Tuan Binh asked Vu Dinh Hong, director of a dredging and construction company, to help him get the land back. Binh allegedly promised to split the recovered land with Hong.

In August 2007, Hong allegedly forged a circular signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung saying that the People's Committee's decision violated land management regulations. Binh submitted the document to Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee.

The People's Committee checked the circular with the Office of the Prime Minister, which reported it was a forgery.

Police told the People's Supreme Procuracy on March 18 they had decided to prosecute the case, but the Procuracy did not approve the arrest warrant.

"The case is under investigation," said the Procuracy's Lien. "Even I myself do not know exactly what the situation is."(dpa)