A Kandal provincial court clerk was arrested Friday, accused of extorting money from Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology Secretary of State Chea Rotha, the recent subject of bribery charges and an alleged assassination attempt, police said Sunday.
Chea Bunleang was arrested after Chea Rotha complained that he extorted $2,000 from her to drop a warrant for her arrest, Phnom Penh municipal penal police Chief Chuon Naren said.
“We have a recording of the voice of the court clerk threatening to extort money from Chea Rotha, and we confiscated $2,000 from the court clerk’s hands on Friday of last week,” he said.
Kandal provincial court had issued Chea Rotha’s arrest warrant on charges that she accepted bribes from a businessman to secure his access to a fishing lot.
Chea Bunleang said last week the court would drop the case if Chea Rotha agreed to pay $9,500, the amount she is accused of taking.
The court issued a notice to invalidate the warrant on Wednesday, after realizing Chea Rotha was in a government-protected position and immune to prosecution, said Chheng Phat, chief provincial prosecutor.
He also said: “I was disappointed with the case, because they had a plan to arrest our court clerk…. Our court clerk was tricked by [Chea Rotha], but I hope this case will be solved by Phnom Penh Chief Prosecutor Ouk Savuth.”
Ouk Savuth said Chea Bunleang, who is still in police custody, is scheduled to appear in court today.
Two men were arrested earlier this month for their alleged roles in a plot to kill Chea Rotha over a business dispute, in what police said was an unrelated case.
