Five officers & NCOs of RBA deny DeSuung Fund embezzlement charges

High Court

Five Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) of the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA), facing charges of embezzling funds for DeSuung Training Programme, denied the charges. The High Court today conducted hearing of three embezzlement cases in which five of them are involved.

These three cases are part of 15 cases pertaining the DeSuung Fund embezzlement, where the Military Court charged 40 individuals (15 officers, 9 non-commissioned officers and 16 shopkeepers) for misusing about Nu 11m.

During the hearing, the appellants said the Military Court in Lungtenphu passed the judgement based on the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)’s investigation report and did not take their statements into consideration. They said the Military Court did not follow the due process of law.

One of the officers said the court passed the judgement based on the assumption of amounts, and the statements of shopkeepers were submitted under duress. The officer also alleged that there is a conflict of interest in prosecuting the case as the Military Court and the prosecutors belong to the same department.

The appellants further submitted to the High Court that the internal audit team and the Royal Audit Authority (RAA) did not find any lapses. They said the ACC investigated the case after some people lodged complaint.

Add to this, the appellants said the usage of fund lacked standard operating system and the fund was used as per the command from the superiors.

One of the appellants said he was charged for borrowing money for personal use, which is not even related to the DeSuung fund. They requested the court to investigate the issue and reinstate them in their service.

The prosecutors from the Royal Bhutan Army, while reading out the appellant’s statement submitted to the ACC said they have failed in carrying out their responsibilities. The prosecutors requested the court to summon the investigating officials from the ACC for examination.

The appellants are charged for embezzling fund, while serving as administrative officers and assistants for the different batches of DeSuung Training Programme at the Military Training Centre in Wangdue Phodrang. The High Court will conduct the evidence hearing next month.

 

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