A group of 10 South Korean nationals accused of operating an Internet phone scam in Phnom Penh denied the charges during their trial Thursday at the municipal court.
The five men and five women were arrested in November at a villa they were renting in Tuol Kok district’s Boeng Kak I commune.
The group is accused of illegally setting up phone systems that it then used to extort money from people in South Korea.
Presiding Judge Chhe Virak asked the group Thursday why they needed nearly 20 phones in the villa.
“Why don’t you buy one phone and share it together instead of buying ten and then another ten?” he asked.
Kang In Won, 37, one of the defendants, said that multiple phones were needed because many people were living in the villa.
Asked if the phones, or the Internet links they were operating on, were used for nefarious reasons, Mr. Kang denied any wrongdoing.
“No, there was nothing going on other than watching television over the Internet or playing games, and phoning friends and family.”
The trial continues on July 27.
