The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Sunday charged Kruy Limheng, Cambodia’s former consul-general to the city of Kunming, China, for alleged corruption, a court spokesman said.
Court spokesman Kuch Kimlong said Limheng had been sent to pretrial detention after being charged for intentional destruction or embezzlement, abuse of power and misappropriation of public funds under the Criminal Code, and not declaring assets and liabilities under the Anti-Corruption Law. He was earlier arrested by Cambodia’s Anti-Corruption Unit, Kimlong said.
The Khmer Times quoted another court spokesman, Y Rin, as saying that Limheng allegedly embezzled money paid for 2,100 visas from 2016 to last year while heading the consulate in Yunnan province. The charges overall cover a timespan of 2015 until 2019, according Kimlong.
Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong declined to answer questions about the allegations against Limheng, saying only that Cambodian diplomats were expected to follow the law while fulfilling their duties.
They should “do whatever it takes to protect the national interest, protect the image of the country, and properly fulfill the work with foreigners as well as Cambodian people living overseas,” Kuong said.
In December 2016, Cambodia’s former ambassador to South Korea, Suth Dina, was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $2,500 after being convicted of abuse of power and unlawful exploitation for extensive corruption. According to The Cambodia Daily, Dina was accused of taking compensation intended for deceased migrant workers, demanding kickbacks to process money transfers and visa applications, and failing to pay rent on the embassy in Seoul.
Additional reporting by Vann Vichar
(Translated and edited from the original article on VOD Khmer)
