A DEPUTY district governor from Kampong Thom province and a local villager were charged on Sunday with illegally recruiting seven local residents to work as air force officials, police said yesterday.

District Police Chief Cheng Saron said that Prasat Sambo Deputy District Governor Thun Saren, 42, and villager Thon Thy, of Sambo commune, were arrested after they had recruited seven villagers on April 3.

“We knew the problem when all villagers came to Phnom Penh to have blood tests,” he said. “[Thun Saren and Thon Thy] said that they had no documents, so we arrested them and sent them to the provincial court.”

Cheng Saron added that some military officials could have been involved in the suspected illegal recruitment.

Chou Sam Orn, deputy provincial police chief, claimed that Thun Saren was promised US$100 for each villager he recruited but did not identify who had offered him the money. He added that the villagers had been sent home. “They are poor and jobless, so when they were promised jobs, they agreed,” he said.