embezzlement

Monday, 7.7.2008: Corrupt Official Nhek Kosal Vithyea Is Appointed as a Member of the Economic, Social and Cultural Observation Unit of the Council of Ministers With a Position Equal to a Secretary of State

Norbert Klein Leave a comment

The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 568

“A doctorate title holder who is well-known for committing corruption and for being immodest, Nhek Kosal Vithyea called Victor, a former director of the state communications company Telecom Cambodia, was removed from his lucrative position, based on a proposal from officials of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication by the Sub-Decree #367 ANKr.KT, dated 8 May 2008.

“Before he was removed from the position of director of Telecom Cambodia by this Sub-Decree, dated 8 May 2008, to work at the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, Mr. Nhek Kosal Vithyea was also removed from the position of advisor to Samdech Akkak Moha Thommak Pothisal Chea Sim, President of the Senate of the Royal Government of Cambodia by the Royal Decree NS/TKT/ 0907, dated 6 September 2007, because this man’s hands are full of corruption in the telecommunications sector.

“Separately, there is a private company, called Pacific Communication Pte., investing in the telecommunications sector. Ms. Song Nimul, Mr. Nhek Kosal Vithyea’s wife, was a candidate for the position of director, and she used to stand as the direct representative of Mr. Nhek Kosal Vithyea, in order to sign and to accept a 35-year license, dated 3 November 2005, from the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, which temporarily earned money from corruption, by redirecting international mobile phone traffic illegally, a procedure that was then stopped by police on 29 May 2008, according to letter #182 SchN, dated 8 February 2008, from the Council of Ministers.

“The action that the Royal Government taken against Pacific Communication Pte., ordering them to compensate the state through the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, based on the letter #182, dated 8 February 2008, of the Council of Ministers, shows that the Royal Government, through the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication with H.E. So Khun as Minister of Post and Telecommunication, recognized Pacific Communication Pte. as belonging to Nhek Kosal Vithyea who is a civil servant, owning a crooked company which stole from the nation.

“As if to wash away his shame, the corrupt Nhek Kosal Vithyea was recently appointed as a member of the Economic, Social, and Cultural Observer Unit of the Council of Minister, by Royal Decree NS/0508/463, dated 3 May 2008, which gives him a position equal to that of a secretary of state.

“This means that Mr. Nhek Kosal Vithyea can no longer hold a position of an Excellency under the power of Samdech Akkak Moha Thommak Pothisal Chea Sim, and that is why he turned to be now under the tutelage of H.E. Sok An, a Deputy Prime Minister and Senior Minister in Charge of the Council of Ministers, who is Samdech Akkak Moha Senapadei Dekchor Hun Sen’s in-law.

“The Economic, Social, and Cultural Observer Unit, which is under the control of H.E. Sok An, was created by the Royal Decree #30 ANKr.BK, dated 26 July 2004, and all members of the Economic, Social, and Cultural Observer Unit are appointed by Royal Decree.

“H.E. Nhek Chroeng, a Secretary of State of the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy, who is Mr. Nhek Kosal Vithyea’s father, is also a member of the Economic, Social, and Cultural Observer Unit, who was appointed by the Royal Decree NS/RKT/0804/172, dated 5 August 2004.

“Independent law experts are so surprised, because, as mentioned in letter #2544BT, dated 2 October 2007, from [Minister of Post and Telecommunication] H.E. So Khun, who sent it to H.E. Sok An, this man should have been punished for embezzlement of state funds, based on Article 37 of the Transitional Criminal Law. However, this corrupt man Nhek Kosal Vithyea was assigned to be a member of the Economic, Social, and Cultural Observer Unit of the Council of Ministers, with a rank equal to the position of a sectary of state. This means that his corrupt person was free form punishment, and was even promoted as an encouragement.” Deum Tnot, Vol.1, #22, 7-8.7.2008

Background Information

PROVISIONS DATED SEPTEMBER 10, 1992 RELATING TO THE JUDICIARY AND CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE APPLICABLE IN CAMBODIA DURING THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD

Article 37: Embezzlement by Public Officials
1.Any elected official, civil servant, military personnel or official agent of any of the four Cambodian parties to the Paris Agreement, or any political official who, while performing official duties or tasks related to such duties, with a view to owning or using, misappropriates, sells, rents, embezzles for personal profit or for that of a third party, property, services, money, personnel, any advantage, document, authorization or any function belonging to any public authority, is guilty of the felony of embezzlement of public property and shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of three to ten years.

2.The court may remove the convicted person from elective office and may also prohibit him or her, after serving the sentence, from standing for election or from holding any position in the public administration for a period of two years.

3.The penalty for this felony shall also include a fine of double the sum of money or value of the property embezzled.

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Monday, 7 July 2008


Deum Tnot, Vol.1, #22, 7-8.7.2008

  • Corrupt Official Nhek Kosal Vithyea Is Appointed as a Member of the Economic, Social and Cultural Observation Unit of the Council of Ministers With a Position Equal to a Secretary of State


Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.7, #1686, 6-7.7.2008

  • Thai Embassy: The Gunman Who Shot Dead Two Cambodian People [at Banteay Meanchey] Is Not a Thai Soldier
  • Keo Iv’s Wife Said [after he was robbed and killed] that the Property Robbed Was Worth More than US$200,000


Khmer Amatak, Vol.9, #600, 7.7.2008

  • [President of the Cambodian People’s Party and President of the Senate] Chea Sim “Agreed” that Hun Sen Can Be President Candidate for the Next and Next Terms, if the Cambodian People’s Party Still Wins the Elections
  • Kompong Chhnang Fishery Chief [Keo Thay] Asserted that [Minister of Agriculture] Chan Sarun Orders to Take US$5,000 to US$6,000 from Each [fenced off fishing] Ground [from those boats getting access]


Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.2, #193, 6-8.7.2008

  • [Director of the Asia Division, Human Rights Watch] Brad Adams: The Bloodshed Event on 5-6 July 1997 Was a Coup to Take Power from Funcinpec [he said so during an interview on Radio Free Asia]
  • Thai Foreign Minister Traveled to Québec to Oppose the [World Heritage Site] Listing of the Preah Vihear Temple [Canada]


Khmer Sthapana, Vol.1, #42, 6-7.7.2008

  • Do 100 Pieces of Wood [about 10 cubic meters] Have Wings to Fly from the Ministry of Interior at Midnight?
  • Selling and Drinking Alcohol Will Be Prohibited for Two Days around the Election Day
  • There Is Sexual Trafficking and Drug Dealing at the ‘Building’ Area [a partly destitute building in Phnom Penh]; Some Brothel Owners Said that They Pay [monthly] Money to Police Officials of All Levels


Koh Santepheap, Vol.41, #6390, 7.7.2008

  • Car Driven by a [Korean] Foreigner Hit a Motorbike and Brought Five People, Including Adults and Children, to a Horrible Death [Dangkao District, Phnom Penh]


Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.15, #3505, 7.7.2008

  • Twelve Organizations [from the United States, New Zealand, Canada] Rejects Siam’s [Thailand’s] Request [opposing the listing of the Preah Vihear Temple] Which Is against the Verdict of Court of Justice in The Hague
  • The Ministry of Interior Should Issue a Statement for Khmer Citizens to Stop Entering Siam
    Khiev Samphan Has Not yet Decided to Choose a New Khmer Defense Lawyer [after his former co-lawyer Mr. Say Bory resigned]


Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4634, 6-7.7.2008

  • LICADHO: The Number of Child Sex Abuses Sees No Decline [for the first six months of 2008, there are 86 abuses of children, in which 54 cases are child sex abuses with 56 victimized children]
  • The Ministry of Economy Signed Another Agreement With the [Korean] Financial Supervisory Commission [after singing a memorandum of understanding with the South Korea Busan Bank]

Have a look at the last editorial – without freedom of information AND an active use of this freedom, emotions can easily lead to dangerous misunderstandings.

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