The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday sentenced a Kosovan man to two years in prison, and ordered him to pay 10 million riel ($2,500) in compensation to Khim Rany, the director-general of Southeast Asia Television, over fraud committed between 2016 and 2017.

Delivering his verdict, Judge Ros Piseth told the lawyer of Denis Cokovic, 54: “If the accused is dissatisfied [with the court’s ruling], it is possible to submit a complaint to the Appeal Court within one month from the date of the announcement of this verdict.”

Outside the hearing room Cokovic said the verdict was unjust as he was innocent and that he would appeal.

“I will appeal to the Appeal Court because if I don’t appeal it means that [I am admitting that] I committed [the alleged] crime,” he said.

Kong Sam Onn, Cokovic’s lawyer, told The Post outside the court that since his client had already been detained for 19 months, and the court had sentenced him to two years, he would be released from prison within five months.

“With regard to the court ordering my client to pay the plaintiff 10 million riel, if we don’t appeal, we will pay. But I will discuss with my client first,” Sam Onn said.

During his hearing on March 11, Cokovic said that in 2016, he knew Khim Rany’s husband, minister attached to the Prime Minister’s office, Kao Kim Huon and created a company to build resorts in Siem Reap, Kep and Kampot provinces, with capital of more than $23 million.

Cokovic said Kim Huon’s role was a “document runner” in a company set up by Cokovic in Bangkok.

He claimed that Kim Huon demanded $500,000 in cash and that Rany and Kim Huon pushed him to sign post-dated cheques for Kim Huon worth $59 million.

He said, however, that they did not spend the money as the project had not been completed.

The court report said that after they had agreed to create the resorts, Cokovic borrowed more than $27 million in cash from Kim Huon. Rany later filed a complaint when Cokovic signed 10 cheques worth the $59 million that bounced.