The Moldovan manager of an Italian pizzeria and wine shop in Phnom Penh was on Monday charged with the “unlawful removal” of a 19-year-old girl from her home country whom she allegedly forced to work without pay and subjected to sexual exploitation, according to officials and an NGO.

Anti-human trafficking police raided the Ga Do Italian Pizza & Wine Shop on Street 136 in Daun Penh district on Friday, arresting the manager, Liudmila Bejenari, 26, and rescuing the 19-year-old girl.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court deputy prosecutor Vong Bunvisoth said Monday that he charged Ms. Bejenari with unlawful removal with purpose under the anti-human trafficking law, which carries a prison sentence of between seven and 15 years.

Investigating Judge Chea Sokheng said he would continue to question Ms. Bejenari, who remains in police custody.

Men Rotha, a deputy bureau chief at the Interior Ministry’s anti-human trafficking department, said the 19-year-old was now in the care of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). He said the organization was working to return the girl to her home country.

Agape International Missions, a Christian anti-sex trafficking NGO that assisted police with Friday’s raid, said Monday that the arrest of Ms. Bejenari followed a desperate telephone call from the victim to her parents in Moldova.

“She managed to get a hold of a phone without anyone noticing, through a third party, and make a phone call,” said Eric Meldrum, Agape’s investigations director. “She’s pretty scared of these people.”

According to Agape, the victim’s parents then notified Moldovan authorities, who contacted officials in Cambodia.

Mr. Meldrum said the victim came to Cambodia in August 2014 to work at the pizzeria, an opportunity arranged by Ms. Bejenari.

“She was being forced to work with no pay and being forced to have sex with people,” he said. “It was all taken care of by the woman now in court; it was all arranged by her, she [the victim] came for the job.”

“The place is also a guesthouse,” he added. “She worked downstairs and they held her upstairs. I believe the bad working conditions were from the start, but the sex, that’s still being investigated.”

BOFH wrote:Apparently the fake Italian Romanian Linda woman is Liudmila Bejenari from Moldova. Fake Italian Jamaican Jeffrey from Nigeria still on the run. I have driven past the establishment almost every day since the raid and it has been open almost every time. The victim is 19 and also from Moldova, so no old Bolivian lady. Makes you wonder how many fake passports were involved.

The Moldovan manager of an Italian pizzeria and wine shop in Phnom Penh was on Monday charged with the “unlawful removal” of a 19-year-old girl from her home country whom she allegedly forced to work without pay and subjected to sexual exploitation, according to officials and an NGO.

Anti-human trafficking police raided the Ga Do Italian Pizza & Wine Shop on Street 136 in Daun Penh district on Friday, arresting the manager, Liudmila Bejenari, 26, and rescuing the 19-year-old girl.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court deputy prosecutor Vong Bunvisoth said Monday that he charged Ms. Bejenari with unlawful removal with purpose under the anti-human trafficking law, which carries a prison sentence of between seven and 15 years.

Investigating Judge Chea Sokheng said he would continue to question Ms. Bejenari, who remains in police custody.

Men Rotha, a deputy bureau chief at the Interior Ministry’s anti-human trafficking department, said the 19-year-old was now in the care of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). He said the organization was working to return the girl to her home country.

Agape International Missions, a Christian anti-sex trafficking NGO that assisted police with Friday’s raid, said Monday that the arrest of Ms. Bejenari followed a desperate telephone call from the victim to her parents in Moldova.

“She managed to get a hold of a phone without anyone noticing, through a third party, and make a phone call,” said Eric Meldrum, Agape’s investigations director. “She’s pretty scared of these people.”

According to Agape, the victim’s parents then notified Moldovan authorities, who contacted officials in Cambodia.

Mr. Meldrum said the victim came to Cambodia in August 2014 to work at the pizzeria, an opportunity arranged by Ms. Bejenari.

“She was being forced to work with no pay and being forced to have sex with people,” he said. “It was all taken care of by the woman now in court; it was all arranged by her, she [the victim] came for the job.”

“The place is also a guesthouse,” he added. “She worked downstairs and they held her upstairs. I believe the bad working conditions were from the start, but the sex, that’s still being investigated.”

https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/pizz ... sex-86206/

JBTrain wrote:Mr. Akudo doesn't even get a mention. Curiouser and curiouser.

Duncan wrote:No-one's mentioned visa's and work permits yet. Must all be in order, or is it that they don't want small issues like that to cloud over the big issues of sex, trafficking and the drugs they haven't found yet.

Fake Italian Jamaican Jeffrey from Nigeria still on the run. I have driven past the establishment almost every day since the raid and it has been open almost every time.

Anchor Moy wrote:This is amazing. Who is working there ? I thought it was only foreigners, and don't see how they could still be working there after the "owner" is in jail for people and sex-trafficking. Business as usual ? Really?

Anchor Moy wrote:And what about good old Jeffrey then ? Is he actively wanted ? If all the papers are in "Linda's" name...
Except for that 2013 article in the PPP, where Jeffrey is described as "the man behind it" [Ga Do Italy Wine shop], there may not be much to tie him to the business. In the meantime, I guess he's gone back to his "father's vineyard in Piedmont" and Linda will take the rap as you say.
This article:
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/7days/7-qu ... ffry-akudo

BOFH wrote:

JBTrain wrote:Mr. Akudo doesn't even get a mention. Curiouser and curiouser.

I'm guessing he put Linda as the owner of the lease to take the fall. Nobody would rent to a Nigerian on 136, but they would probably rent to a white girl with a passport which is Moldova? probably Italian, who cares, you know...

Linda likes this pizzeria, is this also a trafficking brothel front run by Nigerian drug dealers? https://www.facebook.com/Pizzaecotrani/

Duncan wrote:No-one's mentioned visa's and work permits yet. Must all be in order, or is it that they don't want small issues like that to cloud over the big issues of sex, trafficking and the drugs they haven't found yet.

rozzieoz wrote:What an awesome story, some days I miss being a journo.