South Korean on Trial over $ 65,000 fraud

 


Buth Reaksmey Kongkea 

A South Korean businessman was yesterday tried by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for allegedly cheating a countryman out of $65,000 by claiming to be able to secure the release of the victim’s brother who was arrested over online scams.

Judge Key Manera named the accused as Park Bong Jae, 38, an IT specialist who formerly worked with a South Korean-online gambling company in Phnom Penh. 

Judge Manera identified the victim as Chung Sung Ho, 42, the owner of a South Korean-owned real estate company living in Phnom Penh.

He said Bong Jae was charged with “Fraud” under Articles 377 and 378 of the Cambodian Criminal Codes and with “staying in Cambodia without proper document” under Articles 28 and 30 of the Cambodian Law on Immigration.

If convicted, the accused faces a jail term of between six months and three years. 

Judge Manera said that on January 26, the victim’s elder brother was arrested by Cambodian Interpol officers) over online fraudulent scams and was temporarily detained at the Ministry of Interior’s Interpol Department in Phnom Penh.

He said that at that time, the accused, who had a Khmer wife and can speak the Cambodian language, claimed that he knew many high-ranking police officers working in the Ministry of Interior. 

Judge Manera said the accused told the victim that he could help free the victim’s brother if he gave him $500,000 to bribe relevant police officers.

He added that the victim agreed, but paid $135,0000 in advance to the accused with the rest to be disbursed after the work was done.

“But after the accused received the payment from the victim, he could not help free the brother,” Judge Manera said. “When the victim demanded his money back, he did not refund him.”

He said that the victim complained to police which led to Bong Jae’s arrest on March 3.

 Judge Manera added that after his arrest, the accused did not have any passport or other relevant living documents in Cambodia.

At yesterday’s hearing, Park Bong Jae, who presented at the courtroom, denied the allegations.

 He said that when he could not secure the release, he had given back $70,000 and claimed that he withheld the remainder because the victim owed him $150,000. 

Sung Ho’s lawyer Duch Phary said that his client was demanding $65,000 and another $50,000 in compensation from Bong Jae.

A verdict is due on November 1.

 

 


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