Five staff members of a purported vocational training company were arrested on Friday in Phnom Penh after more than 20 villagers from Kampong Chhnang province accused them of fraud.

Yim Sarann, chief of Por Sen Chey district police, said yesterday that his office cooperated with the Ministry of Labour to arrest employees of Worker Vocational Training Limited Co Ltd.

He said 24 villagers from Kampong Chhnang’s Rolea Ba’ier district had told the police that the company “ordered the victims to pay $200, promising to provide jobs with a good salary in Japan”.

He said that the victims alleged they had first paid $50 and were told to pay the rest upon receiving documents from a partner company in Japan, which they were still waiting for. When they tried to contact the company again, they had moved from Dangkor district to Por Sen Chey.

Police informed the Ministry of Labour, which found the company had no licence.

Ministry spokesman Heng Sour could not be reached for comment yesterday.