Five men were arrested Tuesday and Wednesday in a bust of a major forgery ring whose precision and scope may have caused long-term damage to national security, Interior Ministry officials said Wednesday.
Chuon Yuthea, 47, Um Bunavath, 31, and Khim Roth, 32, a self-credentialed Oknha who police described as the scheme’s mastermind, were shown to reporters at a press conference Wednesday at the Ministry of Interior. Suspects Oknha Chantha and Mai Chhoeun were not present.
Also on display was a collection of confiscated evidence, including three computers, scanners and thousands of fake documents, from royal decrees of King Norodom Sihanouk to bachelor’s degrees from every university in Cambodia, many bearing the forged signature of former minister of education Tol Lah.
In the more than two years that the ring was in operation, at least 30 foreigners illegally obtained Cambodian citizenship and passports using documents purchased from the group for $20,000 to $40,000, police said Wednesday. The group also issued several land titles and business licenses, executed with such precision that court officials said the forgeries were indistinguishable from the actual documents through sight alone.
“The evidence is overwhelming,” said deputy municipal prosecutor Khut Sopheang, who led the arrests. “What they did was like setting up a ministry. The damage is huge.”
The ministry launched an investigation after a Chinese national applied for a passport using a fake document purchased from the group in June, said Sok Phal, director of the ministry’s central security department.
A flaw in the forged signature of Senate president Chea Sim aroused authorities’ suspicion. The ensuing investigation led to the arrests of the five men over two days in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kok, Russei Keo and Chamkar Mon districts, in a joint bust between central security police and the Municipal prosecutor.
“There were many people victimized by this group,” Sok Phal said. “They researched all public documents and duplicated them.”
At the time of his arrest, Khim Roth also had in his possession name cards falsely identifying him as an army major, with the title of deputy chief of international relations at army headquarters in Phnom Penh.
The five will be charged with forging public documents, and could face 10 to 15 years in prison if found guilty, Khut Sopheang said.
