The Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court on Thursday charged four Cambodian men with impersonating monks while in Thailand, following their arrest in Poipet City on Wednesday, a local police official said.
The men were stopped and searched at the border town’s Kandak Market at about 10 p.m. Wednesday after police in the area noticed them acting suspiciously, said Poipet City police chief Um Sophal.
“We found robes in their bags and we thought they were carrying them to make money by being fake monks and cheat Cambodian people,” he said.
During questioning, however, Yim Ran, 56; Ung Than, 40; Meas Ratha, 39; and Hoeng Sao, 27—who are all from Kampot province—said they had been in Thailand for the past month, posing as monks to collect alms, Mr. Sophal said, adding that the men said they crossed back into Cambodia on Monday.
The group was charged by the Banteay Meanchey court Thursday and placed in pretrial detention at the provincial prison, he added.
