A 26-year-old man was arrested on Friday for allegedly posing as a member of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cabinet in an attempt to get money from government officials in exchange for a promised promotion, according to military police.
In June, the prime minister’s cabinet alerted government officials nationwide of a scam that requests money be sent via mobile phone in exchange for a promotion.
Suon Monylina, who military police say was unemployed, is suspected of calling a civil servant in Phnom Penh, who officials declined to name, and offering him a promotion in exchange for a cash transfer to be made through mobile-payment company Wing, according to Svay Rieng provincial police chief San Bunthan.
“The suspect ordered the victim to transfer the cash to him through the Wing Cambodia transfer service,” Mr. Bunthan said. “The victim filed the complaint with police after they came to believe that it is a fraud because no one knew the suspect.”
Mr. Monylina was arrested when he went to withdraw cash from a Wing outlet in Svay Rieng province on Friday and sent for questioning to the National Military Police Headquarters in Phnom Penh, where the alleged victim filed the complaint, according to Mr. Bunthan.
He said that upon being arrested, police confiscated $400, a mobile phone and other evidence from the suspect.
National military police spokesman Kheng Tito said Mr. Monylina would be sent to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for questioning today after military police have completed their interrogation of the suspect.
Mr. Tito said the suspect, claiming to work for Mr. Hun Sen, had also collected money from unsuspecting officials and businessmen by asking them to send money to the cabinet to build schools and other buildings.
The June 11 statement from Mr. Hun Sen’s cabinet warned civil servants and members of the armed services to “be careful with evil acts.”
“If you receive a call from someone who claims to be a cabinet official and asks for the transference of a sum of money for some affairs, please contact the cabinet first,” it said.
