Robbers Snatch Payroll, Kill Factory Owner

Robbers armed with AK-47 ri­fles ambushed and killed Cam­bo­­dian-American shoe factory manager Doseth Huang, 50, on busy Rus­sian Boulevard Monday morning in what appeared to be a payroll heist, police said.

Doseth Huang was shot twice at close range after he was forced to pull his car over to the side of the road by three men riding on two motorcycles in front of the Nat­ional Pediatric Hospital.

Witnesses said the robbers drove up beside the factory own­er and, as he slowed his car, they opened fire, shooting through the wind­­shield, hitting Doseth Huang in the chest and left hand. The man­ager of Intech Foot­­wear In­dustry Co, Ltd, died at the scene, Deputy Municipal Po­lice Chief Heng Pov said.

The victim had just withdrawn $70,500 from the First Com­mer­cial Bank to pay workers’ salaries and was returning to his factory in Tuk Thla commune, Russei Keo district, when the robbers struck, Heng Pov said.

Heng Pov reported late Mon­day evening that police had arrested two men allegedly involved in the robbery, and discovered a cache of weap­ons in Chaom Chau commune, Dang­kao district.

Two AK-47s, two K59 and two K54 handguns, a fifth unidentified mod­el handgun and two silenc­ers were discovered, alongside five hand grenades and as­sorted am­­­munition, Heng Pov said.

“We found $20,000 belonging to the dead victim and confiscated $3,000 from each of the two robbers we arrested. The robbers con­fessed they shared $4,000 each,” Heng Pov said.

He added that po­lice are searching for six more sus­pects involved in the attack.

Nong Savoeun, a workers’ representative at the Intech Foot­wear factory, said Monday that staff were due to be paid their monthly salaries on Wednesday.

“Mr Huang was shot dead by rob­­bers today. We are very sorry about that, and none of us have been paid yet. We were to get paid on Dec 10. Now our boss is dead. What can we do?” Nong Savoeun said.

A witness who was playing foot­­ball in front of the National Pe­d­iatric Hospital during the heist said the assailants were in their mid-20s and wore mil­itary-sty­le jackets, un­der which AK-47s were hidden.

After shooting out the vehicle’s win­­­dows, one of the as­sail­ants reached into the car and re­­trieved a black plas­­­tic bag. They then drove in the di­rec­tion of Phnom Penh In­ter­­nat­ion­al Air­port, the witness said.