An agency that serves the handicapped has issued a warning that foreign men seeking legless women are offering a “commission” of $10,000 to anyone who helps set them up.
At least two Phnom Penh agencies that provide training to the disabled have been approached in recent weeks, staffers said.
Sister Denise Coghlan of Jesuit Service Cambodia, in a warning notice circulated to other relief agencies, said a Cambodian man first approached JSC’s training center for the disabled in Phnom Penh on Jan 17.
The man, who drove a nice car and was fluent in English, entered the housing area for female staff and students and said “he wanted to meet legless women. After touching them, he said he had an offer from a foreigner who wants to marry one of them for $40,000,” Coghlan said.
“He produced photographs of three foreigners and asked which one they liked. One of the women, who felt very afraid, asked him to leave. He said as he left, ‘Think about it, there is a commission of $10,000.’”
One week later, the Cambodian man returned, accompanied by a foreign man who identified himself as “Scott” from Canada. Staffers described him as Caucasian, between 40 and 50 years old, medium-sized, with graying hair.
The Cambodian man approached one of the women students and said the foreigner wanted to marry her. At that point the center’s expatriate director arrived and began to question “Scott” about the purpose of his visit.
“Challenged, he declared he had done nothing wrong,” said Coghlan. “The director invited him to come and tell his story to the district police.” She said the foreigner left immediately, saying he did not understand anything about this business and had merely hired a taxi.
In the second incident, a Cambodian man approached the Cambodian office of Association for Aid & Relief Japan in early February. He said he was acting on behalf of “his friend in America,” according to Yasuyo Kawabata, the association’s manager.
He also said his friend wanted to marry a legless woman and that a payment was involved. The man took photos of three students and then left. He has not returned, Yasuyo Kawabata said.
Canadian Ambassador Normand Mailhot said that while the embassy has no idea who “Scott” might be, “I’d like to know more about him. He has not approached the embassy.” Mailhot said he has asked the agencies to keep him informed of developments.
A spokesman for the US Embassy said he was unaware of any US citizens in Cambodia engaging in such activities.
