NGO official jailed for fraud in Mondulkiri

THE Mondulkiri Provincial Court charged and jailed the deputy director of an environmental NGO yesterday after he allegedly defrauded 14 villagers out of $2,100.

“Our investigating judge decided to charge and jail him even though his NGO tried to deposit [bail] and promised to return the amount of money to the villagers,” said Meas Bros, a provincial court spokesman who declined to name the judge and said he did not remember what the man was charged with.

Suspect Sen Sibry, 26, works for the Forest, Wildlife, and E n v i r o n ment P r o t e c t i o n Organisation, and allegedly promised 16 local villagers a job at the NGO on the condition that they pay him $150 each. Fourteen of the applicants paid the fee, but none received employment.

Sou Sovan, deputy provincial police chief, said the NGO is operating legally with a permit from the minister of interior.

“He collected money from the villagers to get work as staffers, and the cheated villagers sued him,” Sovan said.

During questioning, Sibry reportedly told Sovan that he paid $200 five months ago to become deputy director of the organisation, but also claimed to never receive a salary.

“He paid an unidentified person, but he has never got the salary, so they work for what? How can they work? We hope that he loves nature, but I am afraid that it is not like that and he works for his personal interest,” Sovan said.

Police were unable to recover the stolen funds, leading Sovan to suspect another accomplice within the NGO, whose contact information could not be found yesterday.

we have never seen any [EU] resolution executed against Cambodia for many years,” Siphan said.

But political commentator Lao Mong Hay said it was noteworthy that the commerce minister was sounding off to the premier on the wide-ranging economic and employment effects of any sanctions, though he conceded it was unlikely Hun Sen would change his approach to the EU and US.

“He thinks he can say what he wants and there will be no cost,” he said.

Though some firms operating in Cambodia would be able to swallow additional EU tariffs, Stephen Higgins, managing partner of Cambodia-based investment firm Mekong Strategic Partners, said others would prefer to shut shop, causing a negative domino effect.

“While some businesses might absorb the tariff, others might close and move offshore, and then you have second and third round effects, as workers have less income to spend on local businesses and so on,” he said, via email.