A 38-year-old Congolese man was sent to Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison on Wednesday after being charged with using a fake document to withdraw nearly $50,000 from Canadia Bank’s headquarters last week with a Belgian passport, police said.
Kanzi Francis Olivier, 38, who arrived in the country on March 3 posing as a tourist, used a forged Belgian passport to withdraw $48,000 at Canadia’s headquarters in Daun Penh district on Friday and was arrested after attempting to withdraw more cash at a bank branch in Tuol Kok district, according to police.
Mr. Olivier was charged with use of a forged public document at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday morning, then sent to prison to await trial, said Moeung Sopharith, deputy chief of the city’s serious crimes bureau.
“He denies using a fake document, but the court has enough evidence to inculpate him,” he said.
It is unclear why the suspect was not charged with theft, and court officials could not be reached.
Deputy municipal police chief Lour Rabo said his officers initially identified Mr. Olivier as a Belgian national, but later found his real passport, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
