Former state secretary at
the Ministry of Trade and Industry D.Surenkhor has been sentenced to seven
years in jail by the Sukhbaatar district court for abusing his power and
misappropriating MNT91.3 million from the State. However, the amnesty law will
apply in his case as the crime was committed before December 31, 2006, which
means he will be released after four years. The judge also gave him less than
the maximum punishment because this was his first offense, and also because he
admitted his crime  and paid back the
money.

Surenkhor said he took the
money from the construction repair budget to meet his personal needs but
deplored the many wrong media reports. For example, he said he returned to
Mongolia on his own accord and had not been arrested in Austria after an
Interpol alert.

He apologized for his
mistake and pleaded for clemency because he had two children and was in poor
health. It is not known if he will appeal the sentence.