Than Preah In company director Hang Prinya has asked clients who claim they were cheated out of money in a real estate scheme to give him three months to cope with their demands. But some victims have declined to do so.
Prinya, also known as Chhy Chakrya, made the request after clients created a joint Facebook page posting their demands.
They insisted Prinya come forward to solve the matter and compensate those who bought plantation land from the company, which appeared to close down after running out of money.
Prinya told The Post on Tuesday that his intention was not to evade responsibility for compensating clients who felt wronged.
He said opportunists had tried to smear his name, which caused his company to run into financial difficulty.
“A scandal broke last year, saying I sold land when I had none. The scandal prompted clients to rush to withdraw their money. Last year, the company had money and refunded them.
“As you know, if a company only withdraws money and has no income, it will collapse. We ran out of money completely in December last year because [we] had been compensating clients,” he said.
Prinya requested three months, from April 20 to July 20 of this year, to give him the possibility of re-opening the firm.
He maintained that when the company could operate again, it would be able to give the clients everything they expected.
“I will announce the re-opening of the office in Phnom Penh in June. I’m asking them to give me time to work out the matter. We have good members continuing our work in Kampot province.
“We have good clients believing in and supporting [us], and we are continuing to move forward. All investment partners ... please work together in the interests of clients and the reputation of the company,” he said.
Ngor Liheang, an alleged victim who filed a complaint with the Siem Reap Provincial Court in March, told The Post on Tuesday that he was still waiting for a solution.
He had no faith in Prinya’s statements because he said Prinya had employed the same tactics in the past.
“He made this request in the past and we waited a year for land titles and compensation. It is not only plantation land buyers, but also investors.
He asks the victims to give him three months and then he postpones another three months for different reasons. If he did as he promised, we would not have protested,” Liheang said.
Another victim who gave his name as Rithy said he spent more than $40,000 buying land in Siem Reap.
He told The Post on Tuesday that he had previously believed in Prinya and had given him several chances to honour his agreement, but the matter remains unsolved.
“I already went to investigate in Srei Snam district along with the authorities, and they said he has no land here. It was said he deposited money to buy land in the area, but he never paid in full and the landowner took it back.
“Now that I know this, I no longer believe in him. I only ask for a refund on the land I bought,” Rithy said.
He added that some victims are collecting documents to file a joint complaint with local authorities. If the case remains unsolved, they will file another complaint with the provincial court.
Than Preah In, which translates to “King God Land” in English, opened last year with branches in Siem Reap, Mondulkiri, Pursat and Kampot provinces.
