A group of 16 Indonesians who worked at the Grand Dragon Resort in Kandal province have been moved to a guesthouse in Takhmao City as Cambodian and Indonesian authorities attempt to track down a former colleague who stole $161,000 from the resort and casino, a police official said Tuesday.
The Jakarta Post newspaper reported on Sunday that the group was being “held captive by the casino’s management.”
However, an official at the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh said on Sunday that the group had only been asked to remain at the casino in Koh Thom district as police attempted to find Jefry Sun, the Indonesian accused of the theft.
Kandal provincial police chief Iv Chamroeun said Tuesday that the group was now staying in a guesthouse, and insisted that they were not being detained.
“Now, all 16 Indonesian men are staying in a guesthouse…and being taken care of by the Indonesian Embassy in cooperation with our immigration police and a casino representative,” he said.
“It is an argument between the owner of the casino and the Indonesian workers,” he added. “It is not confinement.”