THE Appeal Court yesterday upheld the Municipal Court’s decision to deny bail to the wife of a prominent Phnom Penh businessman accused of plotting to kill her stepdaughter.

Last month, Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged Seng Chenda, the wife of construction and engineering tycoon Khaou Chuly, with attempted premeditated murder under Article 3 of the Law on Aggravating Circumstances of Felonies.

The charges came after she was fingered as the mastermind of a plot targeting Suv Chantha, the wife of Sun Chanthol. Sun Chanthol is vice chairman of the Council for the Development of Cambodia and a former minister of public works and transport.

On June 16, Suv Chantha, Khaou Chuly’s daughter, filed a complaint accusing two men and two women of attempting to rape and murder her and her daughter in the family’s Sen Sok district villa.

The lawyer for the foursome, Dun Vibol, said after their subsequent arrest that three of his clients had told police that Seng Chanda hired them to carry out the crime.

Seng Chanda’s lawyer, Lim Vanna, said yesterday’s Appeal Court ruling had left him “disappointed”.

“We tried our best to present reasons to judges for their consideration, for my client has a blood disease, and she has vowed not to escape while on bail,” Lim Vanna said.

He said that he had not yet consulted with his client on whether to take the bail matter to the Supreme Court, but that the decision would rest with his client. No trial date has been set for the case.