Cambodia's ex-ambassador to S.Korea jailed 5 years for corruption-related charges

[geovalin]

 

Source:Xinhua

 

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A Cambodian court on Thursday sentenced Cambodia's ex-ambassador to South Korea Suth Dina to five years in prison for corruption-related offenses.

Dina, 45, who had served as the ambassador to South Korea for 25 months, was taken into custody by the country's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) in April, following a raft of complaints against him.

The ACU announced that an investigation had found that Dina had 7.2 million US dollars in cash, up from 4.2 million US dollars when his ambassadorial appointment began in Feb. 2014. Also, Dina owned 12.7 kg of gold worth about 500,000 dollars and several houses and pieces of land.

The ACU said Dina had embezzled 116,995 dollars from selling visa stickers and withdrew more than 180,000 dollars from the embassy's administrative budget for informal salary expenses.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court in April charged Dina with embezzlement and abuse of power.

"The court decides to sentence Suth Dina to five years in prison and to fine him 10 million riel (2,500 US dollars)," said the verdict.

Dina appeared in the courtroom to hear his verdict.

 

source http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1021331.shtml

[spidermike007]

Looks like someone offended Hun Sen. Few get charged with corruption, in this most corrupt of nations, without offending someone high up on the food chain. 

 

The ambassador, who was arrested Monday, has denied any wrongdoing. "My arrest is unjust," he said to reporters as he entered the court.

Cambodia has a reputation as one of Asia's most corrupt countries. The problem is a political liability for long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose Cambodian People's Party fended off an unexpectedly strong challenge in the 2013 general election.

Suth Dina used to be an opponent of Hun Sen's government, but joined the ruling party in 2009.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cambodian-envoy-south-korea-charged-corruption-115137389.html

 

[Stargeezr]

Cambodia  is  a country I will visit  after  I go to Vietnam,

or Philippines or Malaysia. or Indonesia.  Too corrupt for

me to spend a single tourist dollar.  Hope they may smarten

up  some year.

Geezer

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

Cambodia  is  a country I will visit  after  I go to Vietnam,

or Philippines or Malaysia. or Indonesia.  Too corrupt for

me to spend a single tourist dollar.  Hope they may smarten

up  some year.

Geezer

 

Cambodia is actually an amazing place. Alot of the Kymer people are very nice, the language is gorgeous, food is ok, though not as good as Thailand or Vietnam, and the ancient ruins are some of the best in the world. There is alot to see, and do. But you are right about the government. Hun Sen has been allowed to get away with his own brand of thuggery for decades, due to the support of the US, and other hypocritical nations, that profess democracy, then turn a blind eye to oppressive regimes like we have in Cambodia, and Burma. Little has changed, though the liberals love to shout out how much progress is being made. All you have to know if that his personal security detail is comprised of over 5,000 men. That is all you have to know.

[Stargeezr]

Yes I have a friend who lives in northern Thailand, who went to Cambodia.

He got lots of good pictures that he could not show me, as him and his Thai

wife left the room for less than 5 minutes, and he had his camera and passport

stolen. He said it was a mid level hotel, but obviously had a crooked staff member,

as the room was all visible except for a small window that only a staff member would

know it had.  He also lost his wallet stolen by  a pickpocket, but it was a decoy and only

had a few dollars in it. This guy has lived in Thailand for 10 years and has never

had any problems where he lives.  That's why I think I will wait a few more years

for my Cambodia trip.