A former Cambodian ambassador to Brunei convicted of stealing more than $US430,000 of money intended for the building of an embassy office was sentenced in absentia on Friday to four years in prison.

Judge Kor Vandy of Phnom Penh Municipal Court said former ambassador and Funcinpec lawmaker Nan Sy, 48, would also be fined about $2,000.

Nan Sy had been expelled from his ambassador position in May.

In 2008, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation sent money to Nan Sy via the embassy’s bank account to build a Cambodian embassy office in Brunei.

Ky Tech, a lawyer for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said the decision was acceptable.  A civil suit is pending.

‘‘For the civil case, I would like to ask the court to force him to return $432,876.65 to the ministry, and ask him to pay [$49,600] in compensation,” Ky Tech said.