A Cambodian and a Chinese national were tried by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday over allegations that they scammed three Chinese businessmen out of $120,000 in 2014 after promising to secure them Cambodian citizenship.

Presiding judge Kor Vandy said defendants Long Yunhai, 40, a Chinese businessman, and Leng Kimsou, 43, a Chinese-Cambodian interpreter, were charged with fraud and faking public documents after they accepted the plaintiffs’ money, only to provide them with fake documents.

Victim Jeffrey Vong, 44, said that Yunhai suggested that he and the other two victims secure Cambodian citizenship in order to facilitate business transactions, and accepted the money, later furnishing the forged documents.

“We knew that we had fake passports and fake documents after we were arrested by Cambodian immigration police at Phnom Penh International Airport” after flying in from Malaysia, he said.

Fellow plaintiff Dy Jing, 41, said that after Vong and the third plaintiff were detained, Long took a further $30,000 to secure their release but failed to do so, forcing them to raise their own funds. Dy demanded the money be returned.

Long confessed to taking the money, but said he wasn’t aware the documents were fake.

Kimsou blamed Long and two Cambodian policemen, saying he “was only the Chinese interpreter”.

A verdict is due to be handed down on September 4.