Two employees of a massage shop in Phnom Penh’s Paris Hotel sentenced to serve just one year of a four-year sentence following their conviction on pimping charges in October will soon walk free after having their sentenced reduced, an official at the Court of Appeal said yesterday.

Pouy Kak, 36, a manager, and Duong Dany, 29, a cashier, both formerly employed at the hote,l were arrested on June 9, 2013, during a raid on the shop, located on Kampuchea Krom Boulevard in the capital’s Prampi Makara district.

Oum Sarith, presiding judge at the Court of Appeal, yesterday bumped the year sentence down to eight months.

During yesterday’s hearing, both suspects denied knowledge that the 35 Cambodian and Vietnamese “massage girls” were having sex with clients, despite five of the women testifying in court that Kak would take a $5 cut from whatever amount each girl made with a customer.

No explanation was given at the hearing as to why Kak and Dany’s sentences were reduced.