Charges against Tycoon Duong Ngieb dropped
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
All charges against real estate tycoon Duong Ngieb, who
was detained for fraud, forging public documents and issuing fake cheques to
two Taiwanese businessmen, were dropped by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court
yesterday.
Presiding Judge Sin Sovannroat said yesterday that Duong
Ngieb’s was found not guilty and all charges against him were dropped.
Ngieb was arrested on February 14, 2022, and sued by two
Taiwanese businessmen identified as Chim Yu Yen and Yao Ching King for
allegedly embezzling $7,305,000 from them for fake land titles between 2018 and
2020.
Ngieb allegedly issued fake cheques worth more than $7
million to the plaintiffs in order to settle his debts.
Ngieb, a former Lieutenant General Police Official
working with the Ministry of Interior, was charged with three counts of “fraud
and forging a public document” under Articles 377, 378, 639 and 630 of
the Criminal Code and with “issuing fake cheques” under Article 231
of the Law on Negotiable Instrument and Payment Transactions.
However, at yesterday’s hearing Judge Sovannroat said:
“Based on the hearing and after the judges’ council of the Phnom Penh Municipal
Court had reviewed all relevant documents in the case, it was determined that
Duong Ngieb was not guilty.
“Therefore, the Court has dropped all charges and
ordered Ngieb’s release from prison if there are no other pending criminal
cases against him,” he said.
He was released from PJ Prison by the Supreme Court on
October 14 after he had been temporarily detained in prison for more than 8
months.
The deputy prosecutor for the case, Seng Heang, could
not be reached for comment yesterday.
Both Ngiep and his lawyer could also not be reached for
comment.
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