Canadia Bank President Pung Kheav Se on Thursday rejected longstanding accusations of land-grabbing leveled against him and Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Kep Chuktema by a Funcinpec senator over a $1 billion development on Koh Pich island in the Tonle Bassac.
Funcinpec Senator Peou Sithik filed a complaint in the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday accusing Kep Chuktema and Pung Kheav Se of stealing 44 hectares of land on the island, which Peou Sithik claims rightfully belongs to his family.
His complaint, which Peou Sithik first publicized two and a half years ago, demands $100 million in compensation to settle the dispute.
Pung Kheav Se, who is also president of the Overseas Cambodian Investment Corporation, said in an interview at his office that Peou Sithik’s claims have no merit and that legal documents support that.
“Based on the documents provided by the city, I know the city already paid his family for that land,” Pung Kheav Se said.
“We have the opinions of our lawyers and municipal lawyers who said what we are doing is correct,” he said.
Pung Kheav Se said Peou Sithik’s brother-in-law, well-known businessman Suor Pheng, signed legally binding agreements with the municipality to sell the land in question.
The dispute is an internal family matter of the senator’s, he added.
Pung Kheav Se’s rejection of the accusations comes on the same day that the OCIC held a reception in Phnom Penh to launch sales of villas in the first phase of the company’s $50 million satellite city on Koh Pich, which is called Elite Town Diamond Island City.
Though Peou Sithik’s claims were false, Pung Kheav Se said he would not file a defamation suit and suggested that the municipality issue a directive setting the record straight.
Whether the city governor, who was in France this week, takes legal action is another question, Pung Kheav Se said.
“He attacked the governor’s name,” he said. “They will take legal action for us.”
Kep Chuktema could not be reached for comment.
City hall officials said this week that he will return from a trip to France today.
Peou Sithik said in an interview Wednesday that his wife’s family bought land on the island in 1992, and the municipality issued a title acknowledging ownership.
Kep Chuktema signed a directive transferring ownership of the island to the municipality in 2005. OCIC signed a $50 million, 99-year lease on the island in 2006.
“Kep Chuktema grabbed my land illegally,” Peou Sithik said of the deal. “He robbed my land.”
OCIC and its president are complicit in the illegal activity, he said, adding that his brother-in-law, Suor Pheng, made decisions against the will of the family, and then cut Peou Sithik and his wife out of the sales deal.
Suor Pheng could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Peou Sithik has filed several complaints and petitions on the topic over the past three years with the municipal court and government authorities.
He said he hopes his latest one, filed Monday at the court, succeeds even though others have failed.
“I have to fight back,” he said, admitting the fight may be very difficult.
“As you know the court system here makes injustice,” the senator said.
Municipal Deputy Governor Pa Socheatvong said at a dinner at Chenla Theatre on Thursday night to promote the launch of Elite Town Diamond Island City, that the courts have already decided on the matter.
“They complain against City Hall instead of complaining among relatives,” he said of Peou Sithik.
Prak Savuth, the chief clerk of the municipal court, said Thursday he had received the complaint and forwarded it to relevant prosecutors.
Thoes prosecutors may decide whether they will take up the case or not next week, he said.
