Police are seeking the arrest of an Indonesian national who allegedly stole about $161,000 from a casino in Kandal province, while 16 other Indonesian migrant workers have agreed not to leave the resort’s premises until the investigation is complete, an Indonesian Embassy official said Sunday.
The Jakarta Post newspaper reported Sunday that the Indonesians are from Riau province and are employed at a casino owned by the Dai Long Company, which detained 16 of them when Jefry Sun disappeared after allegedly stealing $161,000.
“[T]hey are now being held captive by the casino’s management,” the newspaper reported.
However, Abelian Yodha, a first secretary at the Indonesian Embassy, said the Grand Dragon Resort in Koh Thom district, where the casino is located, had only asked the group not to leave the resort’s grounds while police investigated the theft.
“These 16 are still free,” Mr. Yodha said. “Their food, their drinks are still provided by the company and they are not physically detained.”
Mr. Yodha described Mr. Sun as the group’s leader and said the other workers reported that he disappeared around May 9, adding that he did not know the details surrounding the theft.
Kandal provincial police chief Iv Chamroeun said the Interior Ministry’s immigration department was responsible for the case. Sok Phal, head of the department, could not be reached.
Representatives of the Grand Dragon Resort also could not be contacted, but Mr. Yodha said the casino told the embassy that Mr. Sun was still in Cambodia.
“The company informed us that this person, Jefry Sun, is still suspected to be in Cambodia now,” Mr. Yodha said. “Police told the company they have informed all the borders to look for this Jefry Sun.”
The Jakarta Post reported that Indonesian police were looking for Mr. Sun in Indonesia and raided his parents’ home Saturday.
“The raid was aimed at seeking information on Jefry’s whereabouts. We will continue searching until he is arrested,” the Post reported Meranti Island police chief Zahwani Pandra Arsyad as saying.
The report also said the families of the 16 claimed the casino workers were being held captive in Cambodia and Mr. Sun was responsible for sending them there.
Mr. Yodha maintained, however, that the workers were free to leave at any time.
“They want to go home, but the company wishes to settle this problem first,” he said. “So that’s why the company pursues this matter and they have to stay here to settle this matter.”
(Additional reporting by Saing Soenthrith)
Correction: A previous version of this story named the company that owns the casino as Dai Lai. In fact, the company is called Dai Long. The error is regretted.
