The imprisoned mother of jailed tycoon Thong Sarath has been questioned at Phnom Penh Municipal Court over an alleged bribe she and her husband paid to recently arrested ex-court chief Ang Maltey to secure their release on bail, a court official said.

According to a court clerk, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the summons to question Sarath’s mother, Keo Sary, was issued after Maltey’s arrest on embezzlement charges on Sunday.

“The investigating judge [Ly Sok Leng] questioned about her release and her connection with Mr Ang Maltey,” the clerk said.

“After completing her questioning, she was soon sent back to prison.”

Sok Leng and a lawyer for Sary could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Maltey was quickly removed from his position as president of the Phnom Penh court after Prime Minister Hun Sen insinuated in a speech that he had accepted a large sum of money to release Sary and her husband, Thong Chamroeun, on bail.

The two were later apprehended en route to Vietnam in an apparent attempt to flee.

Sary’s son, Thong Sarath, is suspected of ordering the murder of businessman Ung Meng Cheu.

Sary and her husband were arrested shortly after Meng Cheu’s killing, when authorities found illegal weapons upon searching their homes.

They were ultimately sentenced in June to two years each in prison.