Ambassador to South Korea charged, jailed for corruption

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Ambassador to South Korea charged, jailed for corruption

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia's ambassador to South Korea Suth Dina was charged by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday for unlawful exploitation and abuse of power, after an Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) investigation found him in possession of 12.7 kilograms of gold and $7.2 million cash, The Phom Penh Post reported.

Dina’s defence lawyer, Hok Phalla, said the investigating judge had sent his client to pre-trial detention, adding that Dina told the judge that he was being wrongfully charged and only made “small administrative mistakes”, due to his limited diplomatic inexperience.

The court decided to imprison him at Prey Sar prison after charging him with abuse of power under Article 35 [of the Anti-Corruption Law] and exploitation under articles 597 and 598 of the Criminal Code, said the lawyer. Together, the charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

ACU President Om Yentieng said the investigation revealed that Dina was in possession of $7.2 million in cash, $3 million more than the $4.2 million he had in 2013, 339 damlungs of gold, or 12.7 kilograms, as well as 500 gems, 10 huge plots of land, and two villas, though the location of the last two were unspecified.

Yentieng added that Dina had two “unofficial staff”, bypassing Cambodian embassy staff.

Yentieng said Dina had misappropriated funds from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, using part of the monthly $20,000 given to the embassy to pay his two unofficial staff, as well as failing to deposit nearly $12,000 in visa fees to state coffers despite multiple reminders.

Following complaints from workers in South Korea, the ACU found that Dina was directing compensation meant for the families of dead workers into an undisclosed account, an accusation, Yentieng said, to which Dina had confessed.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/158890

-- Thai PBS 2016-04-09

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