Kandal Provincial Court on Sunday charged a man with fraud for allegedly impersonating a two-star police general and trading on the name of National Police Commissioner Neth Savoeun in order to scam police officials out of fake donations for flood victims, court prosecutor Uk Kimsith said yesterday.

According to Kimsith, the suspect, 44-year-old Diep Raden, was also charged with illegally possessing a weapon. Keo Dara, an officer with the Kandal Provincial Police, said that Raden was only found out when a victim called the commissioner’s assistant to ask whether Savoeun had received his donation.

“He presented himself as a senior police official who was close to General Neth Savoeun. He raised money, saying that it was going to General Neth Savoeun for him to use for rescuing flood victims,” he said. “But he kept it for his own use.”