Hai Sin, a CPP commune chief from Koh Kong province’s Sre Ambel district who was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) on Saturday, was charged with misappropriating public funds by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday, a judge said Wednesday.
On Tuesday, an ACU official said Mr. Sin had routinely demanded exorbitant fees to sign land-sale documents, and was arrested after a high-ranking CPP official complained that he asked for $5,000 to sign such papers for her.
“We charged the commune chief yesterday with corruption and now he is in pre-trial detention at Prey Sar prison,” Investigating Judge Thlang Phaneth said Wednesday.
Judge Phaneth said Mr. Sin was charged under articles 592 and 593 of the criminal code, which concern the misappropriation of public funds by public officials and stipulate a prison sentence of between two and five years and a fine of up to 10 million riel (about $2,500), respectively.
The judge said the charges were related to “buying and selling land,” but declined to give further details about the case.
