Buth Reaksmey Kongkea 

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday sentenced a South African man to three years in prison for cheating $35,000 from a South Korean man. 

The accused’s conviction was yesterday announced after the court conducted his trial and interrogated him for about hours in the courtroom. 

Presiding Judge Im Vannak named the accused as Yunus Khumalo, 49, and the victim as Yang Sung-Sook, 41.

“The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has decided to sentence the accused Yunux Khumalo to three years in prison and a fine of 100 million riels ($25,000),” Judge Vannak read the verdict on Tuesday. 

The court also ordered Khumalo to pay $35,000 in damages to Yang. 

Judge Vannak said that Khumalo was charged with three counts of fraud under Article 377 and 378 of the Criminal Code, with “Money Laundry” under Articles  38 of  Cambodian Law on Anti-Money Laundering and Financing, and with “entering into Cambodia without proper document” under the Articles 29 and 30 of Cambodian Law on Immigration. 

He said Khumalo was arrested on April 24 by police in Anti-Cybercrimes Department following Yang’s police report. 

He added police also seized a money-printing-machine, 11 bottles of inks weighing, as well as other related materials during Khumalo’s arrest.   

Yang said he met Khumalo in July last year in Seoul, South Korea.  

Yang said that during the meeting, Khumalo showed him a machine which could print US currency.   

Yang said that at that time, the accused persuaded him to join his business and persuaded him to pay $50,000 to buy the inks so that they could print up to $10 million in Cambodia to be shared 50:50.

 They both later traveled to Cambodia in March this year for the job.

Yang said he gave $35,000 to Khumalo “but after he received the money from me, he fled,” Yang said.

 During yesterday's trial, Khumalo denied the allegations, saying that he did not know the victim or had committed anything as accused. 

Yunus said that he had never met with the victim.  He said that he will appeal to the court of appeal.

 

 

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