Hun San, an elder brother of Prime Minister Hun Sen, filed a suit in Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday, accusing a man of using his name to bilk local business people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Kouy Thunna, a lawyer for Hun San, said that his client, who is administrative director of government transportation arm CAMSAP, submitted the lawsuit after discovering that 35-year-old Keo Savatey had been sealing deals on the strength of business cards he passed around town identifying himself as Hun San’s assistant.

“Keo Savatey has used my client’s name to cheat other people out of their money. He has told people that he was Hun San’s personal assistant. He has cheated hundreds of thousands of dollars from them,” he told the Post by telephone.

“Keo Savatey’s activities were very serious and affected my client’s honour and reputation. So he has asked the court to strongly punish him by laws so that he will not commit this bad thing again in future,” he added without specifying the specific damages or punishment sought.

He said that, according to Hun San, Savatey’s scheme had been ongoing for a number of years now.  

Savatey and his defence lawyer could not be reached for comment yesterday. Chiv Keng, president of Phnom Penh Municipal Court, and Yeth Chakrya, the court’s general prosecutor, were also unreachable.

To contact the reporter on this story: Buth Reaksmey Kongkea at [email protected]