An investigating judge at the Municipal Court on Tuesday questioned a 29-year-old man after a prosecutor charged him with wearing a fake national police uniform with a rank of a one-star general to cheat a person of money.
Him Rakhor Chhaya from Phnom Penh’s Boeung Keng Kang district was also charged with possessing an illegal weapon.
Court spokesman, Kuch Kimlong, said on Tuesday that after the prosecutor had completed questioning Rakhor Chhaya, he was charged and sent to an investigating judge for further questioning.
“The prosecutor charged him with wearing a fake national police uniform and rank and possessing an illegal weapon before sending him to the investigating judge. The judge has not yet made any decision,” Kimlong said.
A police officer with the Interior Ministry who asked not to be named said the action of the suspect negatively affects the reputation of the national police in the eyes of the public, and therefore the police sent him to court in line with the law on Monday.
“The court will make a decision, and if charged there will be serious implications because it is a case that affects the honour of the police in the public eye,” he said.
He said the suspect confessed that he thought of the idea in 2016 and then made the fake national police uniform and rank after he saw it on Facebook.
Rakhor Chhaya then bought some one-star general apparel at a market and purchased the gun from an acquaintance.
He then used the equipment to appear as a police officer to cheat a 38-year-old woman in Tuol Kork district out of $105,000.
It was reported that on July 10, last year, Rakhor Chhaya went to the victim, Hun Chanthol’s home and asked her to lend him the money, promising to pay her off within a month.
However, once he received the money, he cut off all contact with Chanthol and evaded her in order to avoid paying her back. Chanthol eventually lured him back to her home again recently, at which point the police arrested him.
Chanthol has since taken legal proceedings against Rakhor Chhaya.
