AUTHORITIES in Phnom Penh’s Chamkarmon district raided a massage parlour in Tomnop Toeuk commune Saturday, on suspicion that it was doubling as a brothel, police said.

District police Chief Uch Sokhon said Monday that four women who worked at the parlour had been taken to the district police station for questioning after the raid.

He said that one woman, the manager of the establishment, had been sent to Phnom Penh Municipal Court on charges of procuring prostitution, and that the remaining three were “sent to the Department of Social Affairs for education”.

My Bunrin, Tomnop Toeuk commune’s police chief, said the parlour was raided following tip-offs from locals.

“They made a contract with us that they would not provide sexual services to customers at their business place, but they were stubborn and ignored the contract and privately had sex in their rooms,” he said, adding that one of the girls was caught in the act during the raid.

At a City Hall meeting on May 4, Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema accused Chamkarmon district Governor Lo Yuy of accepting bribes from illegal establishments, and said he would be replaced because he had not doing enough to stamp out prostitution in his district.

During a radio interview last week, Kep Chuktema, however, denied that he had made the accusations.