MEDIA NOTE
DECEMBER 10, 2019
Today, the Department of State designates two foreign officials due to involvement in significant corruption. These designations are made under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2019 (Div. F, P.L. 116-6), as carried forward by the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020 (Div. A, P.L. 116-59), as amended. Section 7031(c) provides that, in cases where the Secretary of State has credible information that officials of foreign governments have been involved in significant corruption, those individuals and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States.
- The Secretary of State designates Cambodian official Kun Kim due to his involvement in significant corruption. In addition to the designated official, the Secretary of State is designating Kun Kim’s spouse King Chandy and children Kim Phara and Kim Sophary.
- The Secretary of State designates Latvian official Aivars Lembergs due to his involvement in significant corruption. In addition to the designated official, the Secretary of State is designating Aivars Lembergs’s wife, Kristine Lembergs, and children Anrijs Lembergs and Liga Lembergs.
We welcome the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) actions to sanction these same corrupt actors. This whole-of-government approach sends a strong signal that the United States is committed to fighting systemic corruption and supporting the rule of law in Cambodia and Latvia. A healthy democracy relies on the trust of its citizens. The Department, in cooperation with interagency and international partners, will continue to use the tools at its disposal to combat corruption globally.