The High Court upheld the Panbang Dungkhag Court’s verdict convicting former Goshing Gup Sangay Lethro of embezzling more than Nu 4 M. The court sentenced him to eight years in prison and also ordered him to pay back the embezzled amount. He, however, appealed to the Supreme Court on the same day of the judgment, last month.
Sangay Lethro is found guilty of inflating fuel procurement receipts. The fuel was procured during the construction of the gewog connectivity road in 2011 and the farm road from Lamthang to Mewanggang in 2012. As per the judgment, six employees of the Gelephu fuel depot have accepted to have colluded and inflated fuel price amount in the ACC’s statement in 2017.
The case had already gone through the lower courts and reached the Supreme Court last year. The Supreme Court sent back the case to Panbang Dungkhag Court asking for a proper investigation of one of the charges. The Supreme Court ordered the Dungkhag Court to do a proper evaluation of the fuel-related embezzlement charges of the gup.
He was found guilty of ten counts including embezzlement, solicitation, fraudulent claim, and other official misconducts.
The ACC investigated the case in 2016 following a complaint alleging the gup of embezzling funds meant for the construction of a gewog connectivity road in Zhemgang.
Kinley Dem
Edited by Sonam
