In the wake of the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) clearing him of any wrongdoing, a Phnom Penh commune police chief yesterday refuted allegations that he had accepted protection pay-offs from neighbourhood drug dealers.

Phorn Aun is police chief in Chamkarmon district’s Tumnop Teuk commune. Aun said yesterday he suspects he knows who told the ACU that he was accepting $500-a-month bribes to turn a blind eye to drug dealing. But, since he has no evidence and the ACU will not reveal the origin of the complaint to him, he will not confront them.

“We just need to keep calm and one day it will all come out,” said Aun.

A statement dated March 17 and released by the ACU on Facebook yesterday said an investigation had concluded there was no evidence to suggest any wrongdoing by Aun.

According to the statement, the alleged bribe-givers were three individuals named Di, Da and Bos, who investigators found unlikely to have mustered $500 with which to pay Aun each month.

“Di and Da are poor villagers living in a slum on Street 209 in Tumnop Teuk commune, while Bos does not have a home in the area,” the statement read.

Moreover, the investigation found Aun’s track record as commune police chief not to be indicative of graft.

“In the past, Tumnop Teuk’s commune police chief always intercepted crimes, including arresting suspects involved in drug cases,” the statement said.

ACU chief Om Yentieng was not reachable for comment yesterday.