Two Cambodian men – one of them an American dual citizen – were arrested in Kampong Speu province on Monday for allegedly attempting to recruit 100 bodyguards to staff a planned bodyguard agency, provincial police said yesterday.

Officer Duong Sopheak said that Cambodian-American suspect Keo Vibol, 38, and fellow suspect Khim Sok, 32, were offering salaries of $200 to $250 per month but did not possess the required documentation from the Ministry of Interior.

“They were not government officials or the owners of a security guard company, but they illegally recruited many people to work with them,” he said. “They were arrested by our provincial police after they had already recruited 16 unemployed people in Kampong Speu province to work as bodyguards.”

Provincial police chief Keo Pisey declined to comment on what charges were being considered, saying “police are still working and investigating on this case”.