Srey Chanthou (pictured) and his father Srey Sothea have been summoned to face fraud charges. CPC NEWS
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has ordered Oknha Srey Sothea and Okha Srey Chanthou to appear before it on Wednesday on charges of fraud relating to an alleged 10,000sqm land sale scam in Kandal province’s Khsach Kandal district.
The summonses follow a complaint by Chhun Navy, one of the three people who have filed lawsuits against Sothea and Chanthou at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court seeking justice. The other two complainants are Sin Sopheak and Van San.
Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s Prosecutor Office spokesman Kuch Kimlong told The Post on Tuesday that Investigating Judge Kouy Sao, who is also the court’s vice-president, had issued a warrant summoning the two tycoons to appear in court on Wednesday afternoon.
Kimlong said the summonses had already been sent to the two suspects.
“We have received information from the judge confirming that the court summoned them to appear over the sale of a 1ha plot of land. The court will study the issues carefully because there are many cases and it cannot combine them. For now, the judge has just confirmed that summonses had been issued,” he said.
Chanthou’s lawyer Doung Loeung told The Post on Tuesday that he could not comment on the issue pending a detailed study of each case. He also could not confirm whether or not his client would appear.
“I’m studying the cases and it’s not yet clear how my client will proceed. We have to study each case first,” he said.
Sothea, 61, the 7NG Group managing director, and his 38-year-old son Chanthou were charged on August 16 with fraud, under Articles 377 and 378 of the Criminal Code, for selling 10,000sqm that never existed in Prek Chas village, in Khsach Kandal district’s Vihear Sour commune.
The pair allegedly sold the plot to Chhun Navy, who discovered 7NG was not in possession of the property while she was attempting to put a fence around it, court documents said.
Following the accusation, Chanthou filed a countersuit against Navy accusing her of defamation and demanded $7,777,777 in compensation.
Chanthou said Navy had published a series of defamatory allegations about 7NG on its Facebook page which led many of its clients to falsely believe that the company did not have land to provide its clients.
“Our complaint was handed to a Phnom Penh Municipal Court prosecutor on the afternoon of September 6,” Chanthou said.
Navy could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Soeng Sen Karuna, the senior investigator at rights group Adhoc, said when a land dispute involved a proper land title, the parties had the right to seek intervention from the court.
“If any party fails to respect the law or the contract, the court is at its discretion to decide. If they have a proper contract, the court is required to seek justice for the victims, whether or not the other party is an oknha.
“If found guilty, they must be punished under the law and without prejudice. The government is making judicial reforms, so we want to see that the courts in our country do not protect bad people,” he said.
