Police chief ‘stole $60K of seized property’
AN INVESTIGATION has been carried out into a Stung Treng provincial Military Police commander accused of misappropriating more than $60,000 of possessions seized in a raid.
So k Sova n n Va t h a n a Sabung, a member of the Su p re me Co n s u l t a t i o n Council, last week released documents purpor tedly showing that Eang Vandy has failed to return $60,000 of cash and belongings confiscated during an investigation into a suspected gambling operat i on i n 2013.
The gambling case was later thrown out.
Vathana Sabung, the president of the Khmer Rise Party, released the documents following a probe into Vandy after he received a c o mpl a i n t f r o m Se Mengchea, whose possessions were seized.
Mengchea said he had more than $200,000 in property, including 10 cars, 14 motorcycles, receipts of money lent and valuable furniture, taken from his home in Stung Treng town’s Stung Treng commune.
Vathana Sabung s a i d Vandy had abused his position. He had confiscated pr o pe r t y and a r re s t e d Mengchea and his wife, and had them jailed unjustly. He had failed to respect the legal apparatus of the court a n d h a d c ov e re d u p evidence.
Vandy, he said, had also failed to properly record the inventory of the seized evidence and ignored orders from the Anti-Corruption Uni t ( ACU) t o re t u r n Mengchea’s possessions.
“We consider this to be a most special case because Vandy has repeatedly used the name of the head of the government when carrying
out unacceptable actions. He is also involved in many other similar cases,” Vathana Sabung said.
Mengchea told The Post on Monday that many of his possessions that were seized by Vandy had not been included in the inventory.
Money and possessions worth some $60,000 had yet to be returned, he said.
The seizures came after provincial Military Police raided Mengchea’s property, from which he runs a motorbike shop and cafe, on suspicion that he carried out gambling operations there.
The Stung Treng Provincial Court found Mengchea and his wife guilty of allowing people to gamble at their home. After serving seven months in prison and his wife one, with her in hospital for six months, the Appeal Court dismissed the case due to a lack of evidence, Mengchea said.
“They took all our possessions. I didn’t commit any wrongdoing as accused. After being released from prison, I sought assistance from many high-ranking officials and institutions, and even Sao Sokha [the deputy commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces].
“Vandy later returned money and belongings, but slowly and over time. I went to the Anti-Corruption Unit, which gave me two documents. But Vandy still hasn’t followed procedure and returned all that was taken,” Mengchea said.
The ACU documents, dated 2016 and 2018, show that property was taken in the 2013 operation. Some items were properly itemised while others were not, despite the prosecutor’s orders that everything be properly accounted for in the inventory.
The first letter says that seized property, including $1,700 and 30 million riel ($7,500) in cash, and two motorcycles were not inventor i e d and had not been returned.
The second letter, sent to Vandy on February 2 last year, notifies that he had still failed to return all illegally seized possessions.
“The failure to properly implement procedure is not the fault of the ACU, which did not receive the correct information. The commander [ Vandy] has claimed that there are only three people in Cambodia that he is afraid of. The first is Prime Minister Hun Sen, the second is Kith Meng and the third is Sao Sokha.
“Such language tarnishes the honour of the leadership here. The ACU would like to stress that in the past, Sao Sokha has given [ Vandy] ample opportunity to rectify his shortcomings and improve his conduct.
“However, he has failed to obey the principles of law. The ACU continues to wait to see improvements in the conduct of the commander before it decides on further action,” the letter said.
In June 2016, Vandy was disciplined by Sokha on grounds of improperly fulfilling his duties. He was ordered to return all of Mengchea’s property.
Sokha, the deputy commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, told The Post on Tuesday that all police officials must carry out their duties professionally. If they act improperly, the law must be enforced strictly and without tolerance or fear.
“The ACU has the right to investigate and arrest those guilty of corruption based on the evidence. Anyone guilty of corruption must be held accountable under the law. However, an entire organisation should not be tarnished because not everyone is corrupt,” Sokha said.
Anti-corruption Unit chief Om Yentieng could not be reached for comment by The Post on Tuesday.
Vandy could also not be reached for comment on Tuesday. A man who answered his phone said he was a driver for Vandy, who had just had an operation and was recovering in hospital.