PHNOM PENH: The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) has confirmed that Prek Khsach commune chief Ream Rom arranged a site for an online scam operation on his own land, receiving a bribe of more than US$8,000 from the scammers.
ACU chairman Om Yentieng (pic) explained that Rom and two accomplices helped arrange a site for the scam operation, accepting bribes from online scammers who had dispersed from larger centres, allowing them to continue their operations on the commune chief’s property.
Yentieng was quoted by BTV as saying that after authorities in Koh Kong province and Kiri Sakor district had shut down major online scam and gaming buildings and centres, Rom and his accomplices gathered smaller groups of online scammers and arranged for more than 30 of them to operate from his property.
He explained that on May 27, the Kiri Sakor district governor led a raid on the site on Rom’s land. Unfortunately, the commune chief and his accomplices had arranged for them to be evacuated, thus evading arrest.
“The final bribe from the Chinese head of the online scamming operation was also given to Ream Rom on May 28, amounting to US$8,050, in return for Ream Rom protecting the scammers from arrest,” Yentieng was quoted as saying.
Rom and his accomplices Chea Veasna and Chea Soth, known as Meng, were charged by the court on September 18 with accepting bribes, organising a technology-based scam centre and money laundering.
A group of Chinese nationals were also charged in absentia for the online scam and money laundering. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
