Alleged American fugitive Kenneth Wilcox claimed he was continuing work as usual yesterday, performing house calls on the patients of his Phnom Penh psychological clinic a day after court documents surfaced in which he was accused of fleeing Grand Theft charges in 2003.
Mr Wilcox appeared unconcerned about the revelation that he had been tracked down in Cambodia by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation even as he canceled appointments and his clinic sat empty.
“I’m out working in the field,” Mr Wilcox said by telephone. “I have not heard from any law enforcement officials.”
In an affidavit attached to a criminal complaint filed this month, an FBI agent said, “I believe that Kenneth D Wilcox, upon his release from the Broward County Jail on Dec 07, 2004 fled the State of Florida bound for Cambodia.”
US Embassy spokesman Mark Wenig said the embassy had no comment.
Weslee Lim, the 21-year-old university student and owner of THOR Health Service, the clinic where Mr Wilcox serves as director, said yesterday that, though Mr Wilcox has been dogged by hearsay, he had no reservations about employing him.
“It is just rumor after rumor in the past and none of it is really true,” said Mr Lim, adding that he had “only some” background in the subject, but that Mr Wilcox had proven his credentials.
Mr Lim said that he and Mr Wilcox jointly established THOR in order to provide psychological services to those who most desperately needed them.
To prove he is qualified he claims, Mr Wilcox produced a degree verification certificate forwarded from the online service Nationalstudentclearinghouse yesterday. According to the certificate, Mr Wilcox holds a Masters and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Nova Southeastern University in Florida.
Mr Wilcox said yesterday that he had worked as a consultant for many local NGOs including the Asia Foundation. Asia Foundation Country Representative Gavin Tritt confirmed that Mr Wilcox had in fact worked for his organization as a consultant in 2006.
