An Interior Ministry police captain has been detained for allegedly producing fraudulent motorbike license plates, National Police spokesman Kirth Chantharith said yesterday.
Mr Chantharith said that Nhem Vandoeun, who is the younger brother of Phnom Penh municipal public works and transportation Director Nhem Saran, has been detained since last week. He said that he could not recall the exact date when Mr Vandoeun was taken into custody.
“He is at the Order Police for clear investigation for his involvement in providing irregular plates,” Mr Chantharith said, adding that he could not recall how many fraudulent license plates Mr Vandoeun may have issued.
“I don’t remember the number but there are many cases,” he added.
Mr Chantharith said that Mr Vandoeun had asked for a leave of absence from his job at the Interior Ministry and then took up work as a so-called “facilitator” of paperwork at the Phnom Penh Municipal Vehicle Control Autonomous Authority.
Mr Chantharith said that he expected the investigation into Mr Vandoeun’s activities would end “soon,” and that the former policeman could face administrative penalties or criminal charges.
“We will wait for the final investigation first, it does not take long, we force the work to be completed quickly,” Mr Chantharith said.
The vehicle control authority’s director, To Sochanthy, said yesterday that he was aware of Mr Vandoeun’s detention, but said he didn’t know the details of the alleged crime. According to Mr Sochanthy, Mr Vandoeun had worked as an official in charge of inspecting the serial numbers on motorbikes’ frames and engines.
Bith Kimhong, director of Interior Ministry’s anti-human trafficking department, said that Mr Vandoeun is a captain in his department, but added that he had never shown up to work.
“He was just transferred from the penal [police] department in April. I heard that he never came to work after the transfer,” Mr Kimhong said.
Ung Chun Hour, director-general of transportation at the Public Works Ministry, said yesterday that he had learned of Mr Vandoeun’s alleged wrongdoing and planned to launch an investigation of his own.
