PHNOM PENH, May 8 (Xinhua) -- May Tola, former deputy secretary-general of the Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC), has been arrested and charged with breach of trust after he had embezzled the FFC's funds, a court's spokesman said on Friday.
The kingdom's Anti-Corruption Unit arrested Tola on Thursday, two days after the FFC sacked him and three other officials for engaging in corrupt activities.
Tola appeared at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday and was charged with "breach of special trust by administrators" under Article 393 of the Criminal Code, said the court's spokesman, Kuch Kimlong.
Under the charge, the former deputy secretary-general could be imprisoned from two to five years and a fine of 2,500 U.S. dollars if convicted.
FFC's secretary-general Keo Sareth said Wednesday that Tola and his three compliances - chief referee Tuy Vicheka, finance office chief Chhaing Piseth and administration office chief Kol Sophearom - had been fired from the federation and banned from taking part in any footballing activity for life.
He said the four had colluded with each other to pilfer about 30 percent of the annual funds that a beer company had provided to the FFC for the development of football in the country.
"In total, they had embezzled nearly 60,000 U.S. dollars from the FFC's funds from 2015 to 2019," Sareth said. Enditem
