PHNOM PENH: The Phnom Penh Municipal Court prosecutor has charged three former officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation with abuse of power and embezzlement, related to the issuance of over 6,000 visa blanks linked to online scams and the supposed destruction of approximately 4,000 others.
The three officials involved in the case were named as Tho Samnang, former director-general of the foreign ministry’s General Department of Legal, Consular and Border Affairs, and two other officials who served in the same institution, Nop Ratha and Yos Raneth.
The ACU determined that Samnang and his two accomplices stole over 10,000 C and CEX type visa blanks. Of them, over 6,000 were illegally issued to online scammers, while the suspects stated that they destroyed the approximately 4,000 blanks that remain unaccounted for.
These types of visas are intended for international NGO staff and volunteers on missions in Cambodia.
Samnang was named last week, with questions raised about how he could have conducted illegal activities on such a large scale on his own.
He has been charged with “intentional destruction and fraudulent embezzlement, abuse of power and money laundering” under Article 601 of the Criminal Code, Articles 32, Article 35 Paragraph 2 of the Law on Anti-Corruption, and Articles 3 and 38 of the Law on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism 2020.
Ratha has been charged with complicity in the above offences, while Raneth is charged with complicity, but exempted from the abuse of power offense.
The accused face terms of imprisonment ranging from 5 to 10 years if found guilty. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
