Home > About Town > Former diplomat sentenced

Former diplomat sentenced

12 March 2010

The Thimphu dzongkhag court on February 24 sen­tenced Peyma Dorje, first sec­retary (Finance) of the Royal Bhutanese Embassy in New Delhi, India, to one year and six months in prison for em­bezzlement and official mis­conduct.

The verdict states that the defendant has knowingly and intentionally committed the offence of embezzlement. Section 287 of the Penal Code of Bhutan states that a defen­dant shall be guilty of the of­fence of embezzlement, if he or she misuses government fund or property.

For embezzlement, the court upheld the administra­tive action of recovering the amount and suspension by the parent organization. The sentence would be enforced if no appeal is recorded within 10 days from the registration of the judgment.

During his tenure from 2003 to 2006, he had em­bezzled Nu 830,339 and US $135 by double booking of expenditure of advance, non-payment of advance and non-accounting of statutory de­duction.

The Royal Audit Author­ity (RAA) audited the receipt and payment statement and relative expenditure state­ment of the Royal Bhutanese Embassy on June 30, 2006. and on June 12, 2007.

RAA forwarded a copy of the inspection report to Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

ACC recommended an in­vestigation into the case. The subsequent investigation re­ported a prima-facie case of embezzlement and official misconduct. Based on their findings, the case was for­warded to the Office of the Attorney General.

The evidence submitted by the prosecutor was admitted by the court as credible to the case under section 14 (a) and section 12 of the Evidence Act of Bhutan 2005, which states that evidence may be given in a legal proceeding of facts that are connected with a fact in issue.

By Kuenzang C Choden

Ratings: 1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars
Loading ... Loading ...
Email this page Email this page     Print this page Print this page    

Posted by Bhutan Observer · Filed Under About Town 

Comments

Leave your comment





Note: Comments are moderated by Bhutan Observer, and may not appear until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting.

Bhutan Observer is Digg proof thanks to caching by WP Super Cache