A man was arrested in Phnom Penh on Friday for allegedly producing and selling forged vehicle documents, officials said on Sunday.
Dangkao district police chief Choem Sitha said Hout Chin, 21, was originally pulled over for speeding and then had his motorcycle searched on suspicion of drug possession, but instead police found the fake documents.
“He was driving a motorcycle fast, so we questioned him and did a drug possession inspection. When we searched, we found all the documents,” Mr. Sitha said.
During questioning, the suspect told police where he lived, leading them to raid his apartment the next morning, uncovering more forged documents.
Mr. Sitha said police officers found 20 forged licenses, six registration cards, 13 import-tax documents and 15 transportation tax documents.
“He was attempting to sell those documents,” he said.
Mr. Chin confessed to forging the documents, but Mr. Sitha said he did not believe he could have acted alone. “Neighbors usually saw three to four people in the house, but when the police started searching, there was nobody there,” he said.
Va Sim Soriya, a spokesman for the Public Works and Transportation Ministry, said that such crimes were not uncommon, though had subsided in recent years. “It used to happen before. Yet in recent years, it is very rare that a big case is found,” he said. “It is hard to make forgeries behind our back—it involves interconnected systems and many ministries and departments.”
Mr. Sitha said the suspect was being detained at the district police headquarters and would be sent to the municipal court today.
