30,000-dollar "gift" and no job? I'm suing, says job-seeker

May 31, 2010, 4:08 GMT

Phnom Penh - A Cambodian official who said he paid 30,000 dollars to secure a government post has sued after the job failed to materialize, national media reported Monday.

Municipal court prosecutor Hing Bunchea said Tea Kimhong was charged with fraud for offering the position to Heng Heam, who works at the military court.

'Heng Heam was apparently offering money for any job as a civil official,' Hing Bunchea told the Cambodia Daily newspaper.

The accused told the court he had received only 27,000 dollars, the prosecutor said.

Local media reported that the job sought was a deputy provincial governorship.

Although bribery is an offence, the prosecutor said Heng Heam would not be prosecuted since the court accepted he was innocent and believed the money would be used as a 'contribution' to an unspecified ministry construction project.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Interior said Tea Kimhong had worked as an assistant to the minister, adding that he was fired for misconduct before the alleged offence took place in 2008.

Cambodia is regarded as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

It recently passed legislation to tackle the scourge. The law, which was 15 years in the making, received mixed reviews when it went through parliament earlier this year.