Three Bulgarian nationals were on Tuesday found guilty of attempted theft for a failed bid to use a skimming device on an ATM in Phnom Penh in September, but saw their sentences effectively reduced to time served.
“The Phnom Penh Municipal Court decides to sentence Vasile Veselin Todorov, 48; Georgi Stefanov Hadzhirusev, 28; and Yonka Petkova Dermendzhieva, 26, to 10 months in prison, but they will serve two months in prison, and the rest will be suspended,” Presiding Judge Mong Mony Sorphea announced.
The two-month sentence includes about seven weeks the defendants have already served in provisional detention at Prey Sar prison, meaning they are set to be released in about a week.
The three Bulgarians were arrested on September 23 after attempting to use a skimming device—which copies data from credit cards inserted into an ATM—at an ANZ Royal kiosk on Norodom Boulevard.
They were subsequently charged with attempted theft.
Pressed for a comment as he left the courtroom, Mr. Todorov asked a reporter not to report on the case.
“It is not good for my country when it is published,” he said.
