Threemen have been arrested and charged for posing as a monk, an apprentice monk and a moto-taxi driver in an attempt to trick residents into giving them money in Battambang province’s Banan district, officials said yesterday.

District police chief Buth Sambo said the three were arrested on Saturday after suspicious locals reported that the men were “roaming the village to raise money from them”.

“Villagers gave police a tip-off about the counterfeit monk and our police took immediate action to arrest and detain the suspects for questioning before sending them to the provincial court,” he said.

Buth Sambo said that during questioning  by police, the suspects had confessed to the scam and had also owned up to conducting similar operations in Takeo and Kampot provinces.

Deputy provincial prosecutor Suy Sophea said all three men had been charged with impersonating monks for financial gain, even though one had been posing as a driver and one as an apprentice.

“They colluded to commit the same crime, so they [each] face imprisonment of between six days and three months under the new criminal law,” Suy Sophea said.