Following Ranariddh's exit from FUNCINPEC, Nhek Bun Chhay filed a lawsuit in November 2006, accusing Ranariddh of pocketing $3.6 million from the sale of its headquarters to the French embassy in 2005. In mid-November, Ranariddh returned to Cambodia and formed the Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP), of which he became its president. The following month, the National Assembly expelled Ranariddh as an MP. Within days his wife, Eng Marie, sued him for adultery. Ranariddh's half-brother Chakrapong was also expelled from the party, and joined the NRP as the party's deputy president. In March 2007, Ranariddh was convicted by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for embezzlement of the sale proceeds of FUNCINPEC headquarters, and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. To avoid imprisonment, Ranariddh sought asylum in Malaysia shortly before the sentencing.