Tuesday, December 05, 2006

World Bank: No Comment On Jailed Official's Release

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

By Pin Sisovann
THE CAMBODIA DAILY


The World Bank declined Monday to comment on the release on bail of the only official arrested in the multi-million dollar bank-funded corruption scandal. Bank spokesman Bou Saroeun said the Bank would have no comment as long as the case is in court. On Friday, Mour Kimsan, a former Funcinpec secretary of state in the Rural Development Ministry, was released on bail. Phnom Penh Municipal Court Director Chiv Keng, the investigating judge in the case, said that the release was due to a lack of evidence. "No serious clues were found" to implicate Mour Kimsan in the misprocuring of World Bank-funded contracts, he said, adding that bail was granted without payment of a bond. In June, the World Bank announced that it had found evidence of irregularities and corruption in the awarding of 43 contracts across six ministries. After initially taking offense at the announcement, the government eventually pledged to investigate the matter. Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said the government will continue its investigation but added that the World Bank had no evidence.

No comments: