Four men, suspected of carrying out a robbery at a rural credit NGO earlier this month and killing a guard in the process, were arrested Friday in Pursat province.
Police said Chhun Savong, 22, and Khuon Vonnary, 44, confessed to conspiring with two Seila Nithi Ltd staff members—Suon Sokhemara, 34, and Chea Sokha, 28—to rob the NGO.
All four were detained at Pursat provincial prison. But Chea Sokha was released on bail Saturday evening after his lawyer complained to the court, provincial court Prosecutor Kong Bin, who is in charge of the case, said Sunday.
On the night of Jan 3, robbers killed the NGO’s guard, Yin Sophorn, 31, by choking him with a cord after binding his hands behind his back and blindfolding him, Leng Song, Sampou Meas district police chief, said Friday.
They then took nearly $22,000 from the NGO’s safe and stole three of the office’s Honda Dream motorcycles, Leng Song said.
During the arrests, police found about $6,000, said provincial Deputy Police Chief Prach Rim.
“They buried the money in the earth,” he said Sunday.
Prach Rim said police also recovered the motorcycles and will continue to search for the missing money.
Kong Bin said his son, whom he declined to name, is Seila Nithi Ltd’s accountant.
The son replaced Chea Sokha before the heist, relegating Chea Sokha to a simple staff position. But, the prosecutor said, he did not believe the link would affect his role in court.
“My son is the NGO’s accountant, but he was not linked to the robbery,” Kong Bin said.
He said he believed police gathered enough evidence to try the suspects, but he was awaiting a report from the investigating judge and would set a court date as soon as possible to set charges.
