Four Chinese tourists were sent to the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court on Tuesday after being arrested in Sihanoukville on Monday in possession of nearly $500 worth of counterfeit dollar bills, local authorities said.
After arriving in Sihanoukville on a flight from Siem Reap City on Monday night, the four women hired a tuk-tuk to take them to their hotel in the coastal town’s Buon commune.
Upon receiving his $15 fare, the tuk-tuk driver realized that the bills were not genuine and contacted police, who then discovered a larger stash of fake cash on the women.
“We found 86 $5 bills and 69 $1 bills,” said Seung Ravuth, chief of the provincial military police’s information bureau.
“They told us the money was taken out at a bank in China and that they had the receipt,” he said, adding that because the counterfeit notes totaled less than $1,000, the women did not qualify as traffickers.
Mr. Ravuth would not identify the four women, saying only that they were between the ages of 32 and 52.
Provincial court prosecutor Chat Soreaksmey said the women were brought to the courthouse Tuesday, but would not be questioned until Wednesday.
