Former Anti-Drug Chief Gets Life in Prison for Corruption

Moek Dara (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Thursday, 05 January 2012
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

“It seems to have had pressure from the top, or fear of the judge.”

Banteay Meanchey provincial court on Thursday sentenced Cambodia’s former anti-drug czar to life in prison for corruption in an alleged drug-trafficking scheme.

Moek Dara, the former secretary-general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs, was arrested along with an aide, Chea Leng, in January 2011, and accused of abusing his post to gather hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and organizing drug trafficking.

A third defendant, Mor Deurn, was tried in absentia and given 25 years in prison.

The three were fined a total $500,000, an amount equal to that they allegedly took in bribes.

Moek Dara's interview following his sentence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yllvGVgwCY8

Cambodia's former anti-drug head gets life sentence for corruption, drug trafficking

BANTEAY MEANCHEY, Cambodia, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- A Cambodian court on Thursday convicted the former head of the National Authority for Combating Drugs Lt. Gen. Moek Dara of corruption and organized drug trafficking and sentenced him to life in prison and fined 220,000 U.S. dollars.

His two subordinates: former Colonel Chea Leang, chief of the anti-drug department's money laundering office, was also sentenced to life in jail and fined 21,000 U.S. dollars, and Morn Doeun, who remains at large and was tried in absentia, was sentenced to 25 years in jail and fined 34,000 U.S. dollars.

In addition, the verdict read by the presiding judge Ith Samphos at Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court said all of their properties including land, houses and cash are confiscated.

Cambodia Anti-Drug Chief Sentenced for Corruption [-Peal Si Peal case]

Moek Dara (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia January 5, 2012 (AP)

A court official says the former head of Cambodia's anti-drug trafficking agency has been sentenced to life in prison for drug-related corruption.

Prosecutor Phan Vanrath says the Banteay Meanchey provincial court on Thursday sentenced former police Lt. Gen. Moek Dara for taking bribes and masterminding drug trafficking.

Moek Dara was secretary-general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs before his arrest in January 2011.

His aide Chea Leng was sentenced to life in prison on the same charges. Former anti-drug officer Morn Deurn, who remains at large, was sentenced in absentia to 25 years.

The court, about 300 kilometers (190 miles) northwest of Phnom Penh, fined the trio nearly a half million dollars — the same amount they took in bribes.

Bribe money not in account

Former anti-drug czar Moek Dara (centre) is escorted by police at Banteay Meanchey provincial court last month. (Photo by: May Titthara)

Monday, 05 December 2011
Chhay Channyda
The Phnom Penh Post

The trial against former anti-drug czar Moek Dara wrapped up on Friday with the revelation that an audit of his bank account showed he had just a fraction of the amount of the millions of dollars he is accused of eliciting in bribes from drug dealers.

The former head of the National Authority for Combating Drugs, who is facing 32 drug-related corruption charges in a trial with two of his underlings, reportedly welcomed the revelation that his bank account contained only $US80,000.

“Moek Dara told the judge that he was happy with the revelation of his property because it is a justice after he was alleged of having millions of money after the arrest,” Nop Virak, a monitor for the rights group Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said late last week.

Moek Dara stripped of his general rank [… Peal See Peal]

17 March 2011
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Soch

The former secretary-general of the National Authority for Combatting Drugs (NACD) was stripped of his general rank by a royal decree signed by King Sihamoni. The royal decree was dated 21 February 2011 based on a request made by Hun Xen. Moek Dara was accused in January of involvement with drug trafficking and corruption. Om Yentieng, the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Unit, said that Moek Dara and his companions used the NACD office as a drug distribution network.

Former anti-drugs chief in Cambodia accused of taking part in trade [-CPP Peal See CPP Peal!]

Moek Dara in white shirt (front row) (Photo: CEN)

Jan 24, 2011
DPA

'The government has taken a hot measure, including the crackdown against high-ranking officials up to the rank of three-star general' - Hun Sen [KI-Media note: Four-star generals and above are above the law?]

Phnom Penh - The former head of Cambodia's anti-drugs department who was arrested this month faces a life sentence after the government accused him of masterminding a drugs-selling ring from his office, local media reported Monday.

General Mok Dara was arrested shortly after a number of other senior officials were held on suspicion of corruption and drugs offences.

'They used the anti-drug department as a network for selling drugs,' Om Yentieng, the head of the government's Anti-Corruption Unit, told The Phnom Penh Post newspaper, accusing Mok Dara and a number of other officials currently facing trial.

'Under the new penal code, a person who sells drugs will be sentenced to life in prison,' Om Yentieng was quoted as saying.

He said Mok Dara was arrested after a recent case in which he confiscated 2 kilogrammes of heroin. Om Yentieng alleged that the drugs chief declared only 1 kilogramme to the court and kept the remainder at his office along with thousands of methamphetamine tablets.

Cambodian witnesses fly to US for accused terrorist's trial

Thu, 27 Mar 2008
DPA

Phnom Penh - A group of 15 Cambodians were leaving for the United States Thursday to take the stand in the trial of a Cambodian American accused of inciting a coup, the delegation leader said. Police Lieutenant General Moeuk Dara said the delegation would act as witnesses in the Los Angeles trial of self-confessed Cambodian Freedom Fighters (CFF) leader Chhun Yasith, scheduled to begin Tuesday.

With much urging from the Cambodian government, the United States designated Yasith's group a terrorist organization for its fatal and failed November 24, 2000, attempted coup in Phnom Penh.

At least four people were killed and more than a dozen injured before police and the military brought the situation under control. Sixty-four CFF members, mostly peasant farmers, were subsequently arrested.

A grand jury recommended that US citizen Yasith should face charges of conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, conspiracy to damage or destroy property in a foreign country and engagement in a military expedition against a nation with whom the United States is at peace.

Formerly a Long Beach, California, accountant before his 2005 arrest, Yasith and his wife, Sras Pech, also face charges of lodging fraudulent tax returns by exploiting information gleaned from Cambodian immigrants.

He faces life in prison without parole on each charge if convicted. Pech also faces a lengthy prison term, possibly life.

The anti-communist CFF seeks to overthrow Prime Minister Hun Sen's government, charging it with corruption and mismanagement.