Government
Anti-corruption
Intimidation charges levelled
Three officials from Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district were charged on September 10 for threatening and intimidating a villager after he filed a lawsuit related to the corrupt sale of community land in 2011, according to a letter obtained by the Post yesterday. Romas Svang, 47, of Yatung commune, received ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/intimidation-charges-levelled
Cambodian PM unveils 5-year strategy, vowing deep reforms
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday announced his new government’s five-year strategy, vowing to deepen reforms in all fields to ensure sustainable growth and poverty reduction. “Reforms are the top priority for Cambodia and the country will continue deepening reforms in all fields in order ...
Nguon Sovan
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-09/25/c_132749682.htm
US Ambassador Says Corruption Scares Off American Firms
U.S. Ambassador William Todd on Thursday said that despite his efforts to promote Cambodia as an attractive destination for business, major American companies are reluctant to invest here as they still perceive the country as indelibly corrupt. “I believe now is the time for big U.S. ...
Ben Woods and Phorn Bopha
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/us-ambassador-says-corruption-scares-off-american-firms-42799/
Fertilizer Scam Referred to Anti-Corruption Unit
The case of a Battambang provincial government official accused of embezzling some $200,000 in state funds has been referred to the Anti-Corruption Unit in Phnom Penh, provincial officials said Thursday. Battambang Provincial Court deputy prosecutor Long Hokmeng said a two-week investigation into the case brought against ...
Eang Mengleng and Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/fertilizer-scam-referred-to-anti-corruption-unit-42818/
Further JICA Support Hinges On Fertilizer Scandal
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has said that its future support of agricultural development in Cambodia depends on the outcome of an investigation into a provincial official accused of embezzling funds from JICA-donated fertilizer. The accused, deputy bureau chief of Battambang’s department of agriculture Seng ...
Matt Blomberg and Eang Mengleng
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/further-jica-support-hinges-on-fertilizer-scandal-42143/
Four More Named in Fertilizer Embezzlement Scandal
An official from Battambang province’s department of agriculture who was charged last Monday with embezzling $200,000 from the illegal sale of fertilizer donated to the poor by Japan has implicated four other officials in the case, including the son of senior CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap, ...
Eang Mengleng
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/four-more-named-in-fertilizer-embezzlement-scandal-41913/
Police Investigating Third Suspect in Mondolkiri Mining Fraud
Police said Thursday they are investigating the possibility of a third suspect who has been implicated in a fraud and forgery case over a mining deal, for which a Cambodian businessman and a Chinese associate are already awaiting trial. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday ...
Simon Lewis and Eang Mengleng
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/police-investigating-third-suspect-in-mondolkiri-mining-fraud-41441/
Businessmen Charged Over Mining Deal Fraud
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has charged the Cambodian chairman of a local conglomerate and a Chinese business associate with fraud and using forged public documents, officials said Wednesday. Al Romny, 41, and Chinese national Chin Mongxin, 45, were arrested Saturday after an unknown complainant said ...
Eang Mengleng and Simon Lewis
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/businessmen-charged-over-mining-deal-fraud-41261/
Cambodian police trained to fight money laundering, terror financing
With an aim of facing the growing challenge in Southeast Asia concerning money laundering and the financing of terrorism, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime has stepped in to provide Cambodian police with skills in order to curb this threat, according to a statement ...
Global Post News Staff
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/kyodo-news-international/130826/cambodian-police-trained-fight-money-laundering-terror
Fighting a different battle
Sok Ren’s eyes dart from side to side as he explains in a hushed tone why he’s been detained at military barracks in Preah Vihear province, rarely allowed to leave and under near constant surveillance, since July 31. While casting his ballot for the Cambodian People’s ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/fighting-different-battle
Bribes on rise for test takers
More than half a million dollars in bribes were paid to teachers during last month’s national exams by high school students in Phnom Penh alone, the authors of a new study have found. The study, conducted by the Youth Resource Development Program, found that the average ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/bribes-rise-test-takers
Cambodia investment scams rising
The National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan and related bodies are warning of a rise in fraudulent investment schemes involving real estate in Cambodia, where economic growth is boosting foreign investment. The center received 1,312 inquiries between October 2011 and early this month from consumers who ...
The Japan Staff News Staff
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/08/27/national/cambodia-investment-scams-rising/#.Uh1Rq9KBmN8
Court Questions Cambodian, Chinese Businessmen Over Fraud
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday questioned two businessmen over allegations of fraud and using forged public documents, including claims they faked a signature from Prime Minister Hun Sen in a mining transaction, court and police officials said. Deputy prosecutor Var Sakada said Cambodian Al ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/court-questions-cambodian-chinese-businessmen-over-fraud-40923/
UK to Request Extradition of Biofuel Company’s Chairman
The U.K.’s fraud office plans to request the extradition of a British national currently detained in Cambodia, after it brought charges against four people for their part in a $36 million Ponzi scheme involving a biofuel plantation. Gregg Fryett was arrested in Phnom Penh in March ...
Simon Lewis
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/uk-to-request-extradition-of-biofuel-companys-chairman-40796/
UK to Request Extradition of Biofuel Company’s Chairman
The U.K.’s fraud office plans to request the extradition of a British national currently detained in Cambodia, after it brought charges against four people for their part in a $36 million Ponzi scheme involving a biofuel plantation. Gregg Fryett was arrested in Phnom Penh in March ...
Simon Lewis
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/uk-to-request-extradition-of-biofuel-companys-chairman-40796/
US investors cite corruption as major issue
Though U.S.-owned businesses in Cambodia are optimistic of the country’s economy, its appeal as an investment destination lags behind most of its neighbors due to the perception of endemic corruption, a new survey of 475 senior U.S. business executives in Asean shows. The 2013-14 ASEAN Business ...
Simon Henderson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/us-investors-cite-corruption-as-major-issue-40520/
US Taxman Provides Investigation Training
The U.S. tax collection agency is this week training Cambodian bank staff as well as anti-corruption officials, police, judges and prosecutors in how to investigate financial activity to detect wrongdoing, officials said Monday. U.S. Embassy spokesman Sean McIntosh said the program, called Intermediate Financial Investigations Training, ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/us-taxman-provides-investigation-training-40220/
BHP Billiton Faces Bribery Charges After Abandoned Project
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the country’s financial regulator have informed Australia-based mining giant BHP Billiton it could still be charged over allegations the company bribed overseas officials, which include claims of improper payments to members of the Cambodian government. Prime Minister Hun Sen ...
Despite Popularity, Rainsy’s Role Remains Uncertain
When opposition leader Sam Rainsy last touched down at Phnom Penh International Airport, he was greeted by some 100,000 supporters in what was the largest opposition rally in Cambodia’s 20 years of democracy. When he returns on Friday from the U.S., where he has been attending ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/despite-popularity-rainsys-role-remains-uncertain-39565/
Anti-Corruption Unit seeks response over Information Ministry complaint
The government’s Anti-Corruption Unit has sent a letter to the Ministry of Information asking it to respond to allegations that its officials demanded bribes to let applicants pass exams for jobs in the ministry, a letter published on the ACU’s website reveals. ACU President Om Yentieng’s ...
Australian Police Say Appropriate Steps Taken in BHP Bribery Case
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said Monday they have taken the necessary steps to investigate claims that the world’s largest mining company, BHP Billiton, bribed officials in Cambodia and played down reports that it had mishandled one the country’s largest cases in corporate corruption. “The ...
Sub-Decree Regulating Public Service Is Passed
The Council of Ministers on Friday approved a sub-decree designed to regulate the performance of the government’s administration by chastising institutions that fail to properly carry out their work in delivering public services. Though the legislation does not carry any punishment for officials that fail in ...
Cambodian rice exports to Thailand rising; Democrat revives allegations
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) will consider claims of corruption in the government’s rice-pledging scheme made during a recent parliamentary session, a senior official from the agency said. However, it remains unclear when the NACC will conclude its ongoing probe. During screening of the 2014 ...
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/NACC-to-probe-rice-scheme-testimony-30207459.html
No Information on World Bank Bribery Allegations in Cambodia
More than a week after the World Bank blacklisted a Canadian construction firm over bribes allegedly paid in Cambodia and Bangladesh, it was still unclear Thursday whether the government, or the national anticorruption body, are investigating the allegations. SNC-Lavalin Inc. was banned from World Bank contracts ...