Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association

Court sends tycoon Duong Ngeap to pre-trial detention on fraud charge after claim of judicial corruption

Duong Ngeap seen February 8 speaking on social media as he requested Prime Minister Hun Sen for help with his legal troubles. Ngeap was arrested February 14.
Duong Ngeap seen February 8 speaking on social media as he requested Prime Minister Hun Sen for help with his legal troubles. Ngeap was arrested February 14.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday decided to place tycoon Duong Ngeap, a three-star general with the Ministry of Interior, in pre-trial detention as he faces a charge of fraud.

Court spokesman Y Rin told CamboJA the court ordered Ngeap detained at PJ prison but did not comment further. Phnom Penh Municipal Police chief Sar Thet confirmed the tycoon was arrested on Monday morning in line with a court warrant.

The arrest came a week after Ngeap made a live video accusing Phnom Penh Municipal Court judges of corruption while they pressed charges against him for allegedly defrauding Taiwanese investors.

In the video clip, he called on Prime Minister Hun Sen for help, claiming he is suffering from injustice.

“I have been charged indistinctly by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, turning [the case] from white color to the black,” he said. “Once I appear in court, I pay the money. … I am required to deposit $5 million in exchange for release on bail.”

“Now that I have run out of money, I have no choice but to walk into the prison on my own.”

A  court spokesman on February 10 issued a statement to refute Ngeap’s allegations of corruption. But the statement did confirm the investigating judge had granted the defendant bail on the condition he deposit more than $5.3 million in exchange for not being detained, a deal he had refused. The statement also pointed out the tycoon had been sued by two Taiwanese investors for fraud related to real estate projects in Phnom Penh.

The Phnom Penh Court in September also issued a letter to Interior Minister Sar Kheng seeking an investigation of Ngeap for fraud and forgery of public documents allegedly committed in 2018.

Ngeap said in the live video clip that he had in the past worked with Tawninese investors on real estate projects including residential development in Phnom Penh, but denied the allegation of fraud.

“It is a commercial dispute and must be addressed in a commercial way,” he said.

Cambodia’s judicial system has regularly been accused of being corrupt and beholden to the ruling party’s demands. According to the former UN Special Rapporteur on Cambodia, more than a third of the nation’s prison population is in pre-trial detention – though some rights groups estimate the figure to be closer to 75 percent.

Last year, Cambodia’s justice minister pledged to crack down on corruption in the nation’s judicial system, declaring the fight against corruption to be a key part of a new year-long campaign to clear the backlog of cases in the country’s courts.

According to Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released in January, Cambodia’s judicial system has been found to be the country’s main source of corruption, earning it the lowest score in the region on the CPI.

Licadho deputy director of monitoring Am Sam Ath said the land activists, environmental and human rights activists are currently suffering under the country’s judicial system. He said the courts must be reformed to ensure justice for all.

“They [activists] have been arrested and detained for what they should not be,” he said.

Speaking of Ngeap’s case, Sam Ath said any investigation should be done by the Anti-Corruption Unit or other relevant institutions to show transparency.

“For the juridical system, if we have yet to ensure independence, it will affect social justice not only for the poor but also the rich,” he said. “It plays an important role in finding social justice for all.”

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