Four dead suspects in botched robbery in capital identified

THE ringleader of a gang who attempted to rob and kidnap a wealthy family in the Borey Angkor gated community in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district on March 1 was formerly employed by the family as a driver, according to a report from the Phnom Penh municipal police on March 2.

The report identified Oem Sovannarith, 21, as the man who had initiated the plans to rob and kidnap his former employer and his family.

His former employer Mao Hour, 58, was previously head of a branch of Electricite du Cambodge in Kampong Cham. After retiring from that position Hour had begun working in the private sector making electricity supply bids in some areas of Phnom Penh and the provinces.

The report noted that after quitting his job the suspect had later returned to ask him if he could resume work as his driver but Hour had already hired someone else for the job and they turned him away.

Having been spurned by his former employer, Sovannarith recruited three accomplices to join him in his plans to kidnap, rob and kill up to 10 people – eight family members and two servants still working at the house.

Sovannarith’s plans were somehow leaked to Hour’s family and when the suspects arrived to carry out their robbery, kidnap and murder plot they found municipal police forces there waiting for them.

“First, [the suspects] arrived at [Hour’s] house and forced him to write a million dollar cheque at gunpoint. They had then planned on taking Hour’s daughter with them to the bank as a hostage.

Leaving nothing to chance, the plotters had decided to leave one of their group behind at Hour’s house with him so that when the other three criminals and Hour’s daughter went to withdraw the money at the bank he would be there to force Hour to answer his phone when the bank called asking for his approval to cash the cheque, the official report claims.

According to the police report the four plotters had intended to murder all 10 of their victims once they had gotten a hold of the money from the bank and also cleaned out all of the money and jewellery in Hour’s household safe.

The gang’s plan was foiled when police forces arrived on the scene and a shoot-out erupted between the opposing sides. All four of the suspects – armed with modern AK-47 rifles – were killed in the gun battle.

Hour and his family were shaken but unharmed and no police were injured in the operation.

Besides the ringleader Sovannarith, the police identified another suspect, Ry Pisey, 30, a resident of Kampong Samnanh commune in Kandal province’s Takhmao town.

The two remaining plotters have not yet been identified. The bodies of the four are currently being kept at Tuek Thla Pagoda in the Sen Sok district where the shoot-out took place.

Ung Serey Kut, commander of the Bodyguard Command, has issued a letter denying rumours that Sovannarith was formerly a member of the bodyguard forces holding the rank of major.

The letter said the insignia card of the Bodyguard Command that Sovannarith was using was a forgery.

AMINVESTMENT Bank Research has cut its earnings forecasts for Kuala Lumpurlisted Econpile Holdings Bhd on its belief that the Malaysian government is unlikely to roll out new major public infrastructure projects over the short-term.

It said in a note: “We maintain our view that the government will have very limited room for fiscal manoeuvre in 2021 given the elevated national debt, even before the pandemic.

“The government’s fiscal position has been weighed down further by the economic impact of the pandemic [including reduced tax and petroleum revenues], as well as the massive relief spending to cushion the economic impact of the pandemic.”

It added that there is an acute oversupply situation in the high-rise residential, retail mall and office segments, which translates to weak prospects in property-related job wins for piling contactors like Econpile.

AmInvestment noted that Econpile does not expect a significant improvement in margins over the immediate term given the various operational restrictions under the new norm and additional costs incurred with regards to migrant worker welfare.

The research house assumes an average earnings-beforeinterest-and-taxes margin of six per cent in fiscal year 2021, before recovering to 10 per cent in fiscal years 20222023 backed by a high-margin Cambodia job.

Econpile is targeting mainly small piling and substructure jobs locally and expects to be able to meet its new job target of 500 million ringgit ($123 million) in fiscal year 2021.

Year-to-date, the group has secured 403 million ringgit in new jobs, including a $85.7 million piling and substructure work subcontract for an integrated entertainment complex in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

AmInvestment reduced its net profit forecasts for fiscal years 2021-2023 by 42 per cent, two per cent and one per cent respectively but maintained its fair value at 18 sen (4.44 US cents) per share based on eight times revised fully diluted fiscal year 2022 forecast earnings per share.

“Econpile’s valuations are excessive at 17-31 times forward earnings on muted earnings growth prospects,” it said while reiterating its “underweight” recommendation on the stock.

On the Bursa Malaysia, Econpile’s share price rose one sen or 1.14 per cent to close at 0.45 ringgit on March 2 for a market capitalisation of 630.79 million ringgit, with 3.11 million shares traded.