"Economic adviser" to Obama charged with forgery in Cambodia

Ray Dam (C) and Suos Saroeun (R) (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Dec 23, 2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - Police in Cambodia arrested a man claiming to be an adviser to US President Barack Obama and head of an international finance organization that stores its assets in caves and sunken ships.

Ray Dam and associate Soush Saroeun were charged with forgery Monday after being arrested at Dam's home in Phnom Penh. They were accused of forging documents alleging connections with HSBC Bank, the US government and the United Nations.

The pair had been operating a self-described international real-estate consultancy known as Asia Real Property out of modern offices in the Cambodian capital.

Asia Real Property's promotional materials identified the firm as a subsidiary of a group called the Office of International Treasury Control that claimed to be 'the largest single owner of gold and platinum bullion in the world,' holding cash and treasure in a variety of clandestine locations.

'Much of the treasure is buried in tunnels, bunkers and caves and in sunken ships,' the group said in an investment presentation. 'Further treasures are hidden all around the world.'

Dam is identified on the group's website as the 'sole arbiter ... of the Tripartite Gold Commission,' which was a post-World War II organization that searched for gold stolen by Nazi Germany and was dissolved in 1998. The website also said Dam was an adviser to Obama and his predecessor George W Bush.

Police said Dam and Saroeun had been advertising financial services to foreign joint venture partners in company documents claiming a connection to HSBC Bank. If convicted, they face a maximum of 16 years in prison.

According to an investigation report from police, Dam was born in Cambodia, fleeing the country for the US in the 1970s before returning in the early '90s. US embassy officials said they had been unable to confirm whether he holds US citizenship.

Officials from Cambodia's Ministry of Finance lodged a complaint against Dam and Saroeun after learning that the pair were operating without a real-estate licence. A government spokesman said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had ordered an investigation after learning that Dam had been posing as an adviser to the president of Cambodia's Senate.

Pssttt ... need land for free in Cambodia? Ask the CPP General, he'll grab any land plot for you

General Charged With Land Title Fraud

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
31 October 2008

Kandal provincial courts on Thursday detained a high-ranking military general on charges he faked land documents in an attempt to take more than $1 million in land from a Phnom Penh businessman.

National penal police arrested Maj. Gen. Chao Sokhonn in Phnom Penh Thursday and transported him to the courts in Kandal, where the land is, said penal police head Maj. Gen. Mok Chito.

Chao Sokhonn was questioned by court prosecutors and charged Thursday. No date has been set for his trial.

Prosecutors allege that Chao Sokhonn employed a fake land title in order to take 12 hectares away from the businessman, who spoke to VOA Khmer but requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.

The businessman said he bought the $1.3 million plot, along National Road 51, in 2001 through Canadia Bank’s real estate arm.

In September, he went to check on the land to build a wall and plant trees, but bodyguards of Chao Sokhonn prevented him from entering, the businessman said.

Chao Sokhonn, 50, is an adviser to Ministry of Defense Secretary-General Sam Vanthon and a former Funcinpec deputy commander of military police in Sihanoukville.

Sam Vanthon declined to comment on the arrest Friday.

Chao Sokhonn was released from three years of prison in 2002, on charges of drug trafficking, after which he joined the Cambodian People’s Party, according to Deputy Prime Minister Nhiek Bunchhay, who is also the secretary-general of Funcinpec.

His arrest comes following the September arrests of several other military officers charged with forging documents in an attempt to sell state property in Phnom Penh.

19 charged in Cambodia over trying to sell a public building

September 29, 2008
ABC Radio Australia

In Cambodia, 19 people including a senior ranking defence official have been charged after trying to sell off a public building.

The Phnom Penh Municipal court has heard the 19 defendants used forged documents in their attempt to sell the Fisheries Administration offices in the capital.

The Phnom Penh Post reports the attempted fraud highlights a growing problem of illegal land speculation in the country.

19 charged in fisheries building sale scam

Friday, 26 September 2008
Written by Chrann Chamroeun
The Phnom Penh Post

PHNOM Penh Municipal Court has charged 19 people for using forged documents in an attempt to sell the government's Fisheries Administration offices on Norodom Boulevard, court officials said Thursday.

"Seventeen suspects were charged with using forged public documents. The additional two, who are believed to be the masterminds of the fraud plot [and include] RCAF Lieutenant-Colonel Saphan Dara ... were charged with forging documents," said deputy prosecutor Kry Sok Y.

Investigating Judge Chan Madyna is expected to rule soon on whether the suspects will be detained pending trial, but could not be reached for comment Thursday.

National Police Commissioner Mok Chito told the Post that "it might be too late for the court to release a warrant to detain [the suspects]," but he was confident the court would work on the case "in a careful way".

Sok Sam Oeun, director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, said the suspects could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Yong Kim Eng, president of the People's Centre for Development & Peace, said that the attempted fraud was a sign of wider problems facing the country.

"Land speculation is a big concern.... Public property belongs to the people, not to individuals," he said.

In Fisheries Office Fraud, Impunity Worries

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
26 September 2008

The office of the fisheries department of the Ministry of Agriculture sits on nearly one hectare of land on Norodom Boulevard in Phnom Penh’s Chamkar Mon district. The large office building has been a workplace for fisheries officials since 1979.

The building and the land underneath it—worth millions of dollars in today’s real estate market—became the focus of an expansive investigation by police and military police this week, after they arrested 18 people allegedly involved in a scheme to sell the land through forged government documents.

Now the people who work in and around the office say they fear the alleged perpetrators, some of whom are a part of the government, will be released.

Inside the fisheries office compound on Thursday evening, Pom Sok Hot, a 27-year-old staff administrator, was incensed at the attempted sale.

“If someone is found not guilty, he should be released. But any person found to be involved in forging government documents should not be released,” she said. “If the person found guilty is released, that is injustice.”

Nearby, a roadside motorcycle repairman, Soeung Rithy, 39, said he worried that powerful and wealthy people would be released.

“Frankly speaking, I’m afraid there could be corruption,” he said.

RCAF Lt. Col. Saphon Dara was charged at Phnom Penh Municipal Court Wednesday with document forgery. His mother, Neang Sovanny, was charged in absentia for the same crime. Seventeen others, including Lt. Col. Men Vichet, deputy commander of RCAF infantry, and three other military officers, were charged with the use of forged documents.

A military policeman told VOA Khmer on condition of anonymity that Saphon Dara was found with a forged letter purporting to come from the Council of Ministers and offering a sale of the fisheries office.

Copies of the letter were distributed to Phnom Penh land brokers seeking buyers for the office, and one copy found its way to Men Vichet, the policeman alleged.

Offers to buy the land would have been tempting. Land situated on main boulevards, such as Norodom, command a high price in Phnom Penh’s booming real estate market.

Soeng Bunna, who owns Bunna Realty Group, said Friday land on the main boulevards, attractive for large business developments or even embassy construction, fetches up to $4,000 per square meter.

That means the fisheries department land, which is nearly 9,000 square meters, could have been worth up to $36 million.

By last week, reports of the fraudulent letter had reached Prime Minister Hun Sen, who ordered authorities to find the forgers and arrest them.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, police and military police called in 22 people for questioning, sending 18 to the courts, along with Saphon Dara, who was arrested Monday.

Police are still searching for Neang Sovanny.

Police Arrest Second Officer in Land Scam

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
23 September 2008

Police have arrested a second infantry officer suspected of involvement in an alleged plot to sell state land in Phnom Penh with forged documents, officials said Tuesday.

National police arrested Lt. Col. Saphon Dara, 34, an RCAF infantry officer, at his home on Monday, said Brig. Gen. Mok Phito, director of the penal crime department of the Ministry of Interior.

Saphon Sara is the son of Neang Sovanny and Nou Sophonn, who are being sought as the “masterminds” behind a plot to sell the offices of the Agriculture Ministry’s fishery administration on Norodom Boulevard using forged documents, military police commander Gen. Sao Sokha said Tuesday.

“I believe the two of them are still in the country, but they are trying to flee the country,” he said. “I hope we will arrest the two of them soon.”

Neang Sovanny, and her husband, Nou Sophonn, owned a real estate company known alternately as Hun Yany or Hun Many, employing the name “Hun” to attract high-ranking leaders by appearing to be linked with Prime Minister Hun Sen, Sao Sokha said.

Military police are holding four suspected members of the plot, including Lt. Gen. Men Vichet, deputy commander of RCAF infantry, and national police are holding another 18 suspects, officials said.

Mok Phito said the Interior Ministry has filed a complaint with Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

Military Police Question 22 in Land Racket

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
22 September 2008

Military police on Monday were holding 22 people, including a senior armed forces commander, for questioning in connection to the alleged sale of state land using forged documents across Phnom Penh.

Lt. Gen. Men Vichet, deputy commander of RCAF infantry, was among those being questioned, Military Police Commander Gen. Sao Sokha said.

Others being questioning included senior government, military and police officials and land brokers, Sao Sokha said. He declined to give more specific information on the names or ranks of officials.

The men are being questioned in connection to a criminal operation in which land brokers worked closely with senior officials to falsely sell state land with forged titles, Sao Sokha said.

Gen. Meas Sophea, commander of the RCAF infantry, confirmed Monday his subordinate, Men Vichet, had been called in for questioning at military police headquarters, but he could not confirm whether the questioning was related to forged land documents.

The arrest follows a public announcement Wednesday by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who said many government officials were involved in forging land documents.

The 22 men were called in for questioning on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and all of them were being held at military police headquarters on Monday, Sao Sokha said.

None has been charged, but a continuing investigation is underway, he said.