11 October 2017
SIHANOUKVILLE - Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court has detained a man who claimed to be the chairman of the Pi Thnou Community organisation and cheated 174 families in Prey Nop district’s Bit Trang commune out of $50,000 in exchange for land.
Preah Sihanouk provincial police on Wednesday afternoon arrested Yon Sothy, 35, a vice-president of the Pi Thnou Community organisation living in Prey Veng province’s Sithor Kandal district.

Preah Sihanouk provincial police chief Choun Narin said that the arrest followed an order from the provincial governor, who had received complaints from villagers about Mr Sothy claiming to be the chairman and taking their money in return for promises of state land.

NGO worker swindles land-dispute victims
Fri, 13 October 2017
A local NGO worker was arrested on Tuesday in Preah Sihanouk province for allegedly misrepresenting himself as a land deal broker and taking advantage of villagers involved in a land dispute for personal profit.

Kol Phaly, deputy provincial police chief, said suspect Yon Sothy was the deputy chief of December Second, an NGO that primarily worked to help victims of land disputes.

“Around 174 villagers filed a complaint against him. Now we have already sent him to the provincial court,” Phaly said. Governor Yon Min said Sothy took between $500 and $1,000 from each family involved in the dispute, promising to give them land in exchange.
“I ordered the provincial police to arrest him . . . He presented himself as having authority to allot land to the people . . . He used my name for a long time. He lied to the villagers, [claiming] that he gave me the money,” Min said.

Min added that he would report the issue to the Ministry of Interior. “Now we are preparing the documents to terminate that NGO,” Min said...
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