Nov Sary accused of nearly $500,000 cheating business partner

 

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea 

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court heard on January 9, 2024 the case of two men and a woman who own a construction and engineering company and allegedly cheated nearly $500,000 from a business partner by not delivering anti-COVID products purchased in 2020.

The three accused are Nov Sary and his wife Sles Aseymas, owners of the Rakan Construction & Engineering (Cambodia) Co. Ltd., and Nov Kevin, Sary’s younger brother, the operations manager at the company.

Judge Klok Piseth said the trio were charged with “Breach of Trust” under Articles 29,  391 and 392 of the Criminal Code and with “issuing dud cheques” under Article 231 of the Law on Negotiable Instrument and Payment Transactions.

If convicted, the trio face from two to five years in prison.

Sary was arrested on July 12, 2023 and has been detained at the Correctional Centre 1 (CC1) while Aseymes and Kevin were released on bail.

During the hearing, the plaintiff Lim Sar, 33, testified that in 2020 during the COVID pandemic, Sary’s company was importing anti-COVID face masks and gloves from abroad to sell in Cambodia.

He contacted Sary in November 2020 to place an order for 1,000 cases of anti-COVID-19 gloves for which he paid $475,000.

“But after Mr Nov Sary had received the money from me, he didn’t deliver the gloves as contracted,” the plaintiff told the court yesterday.

“After repeatedly asking him about my shipment, he said that he was not responsible for it, and he did not refund my money,” he said.



Sar said that in June 2022, Sary issued to him several cheques amounting to $600,000 to settle the debt after he had sued the accused in court.

However, when he tried to deposit the cheques at the bank he discovered that the cheques were duds.

“I would like the judge to punish the accused according to the law and ask for $360,000 in damages and another $200,000 in compensation from them,” Sar requested.

Sary admitted committing the offence but said he could not import the products due to the government’s strict preventive measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said that since his arrest, his family has transferred a plot of land worth $250,000 in Phnom Penh to the plaintiff to resolve the debt.

He added that his wife and younger brother were not involved with this case, and asked the court to drop any charges against them.

“I am fully responsible for any damages to the plaintiff in this case. I promise that I will repay all the money owed to him. Therefore, I would like to ask the judge to reduce my sentence and release me from prison so that I can make money to repay the plaintiff,” he said.

A verdict is due on January 24. 




 

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