Businessman Questioned Over Waste Imports

The president of a local company suspected of helping bring in tons of waste from Taiwan was questioned in Sihanoukville Mun­icipal Court on Monday, a local police chief said.

Sam Moeurn is suspected of facilitating the illegal importation of waste and remains in detention, said Bour Sophy, director of economic police for Siha­nouk­ville. The police chief said Sam Moeurn’s signature was on some documents related to the shipment and that the company president confessed to working with the Taiwanese company that shipped in nearly 3,000 tons of waste in late November.

Sam Moeurn is one of five members listed on the board of the Muth Vuthy Import and Export Company, registration documents from the Commerce Ministry show.

Police in Sihanoukville have not detained any of the other four members, Bour Sophy said. Of the other four board members, two are of Cambodian nationality and two are Vietnamese.

“The government is investigating to find others who might be involved,” Bour Sophy said.

Muth Vuthy was registered at the Commerce Ministry on Nov 27, 1997, as an import-export company with about $5,200 in capital, official documents show.

The company lists a multitude of proposed business activities from tourism development to raising animals. It also was authorized to import and export of all kinds of goods and rent, pawn, repair and store “all kinds of products from everywhere.”

Police took Sam Moeurn from his Phnom Penh residence and brought him to Sihanoukville for questioning late last week, his wife said. But on Monday, she said he was only a company agent and did not organize the shipment.

(Additional reporting by Pin Sisovann)

 

 

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