Three Chinese men are being investigated by a Cambodian court for allegedly attempting to launder about $3.5 million they were transporting in cash from Hong Kong.
Kirth Chantharith, immigration department chief, wrote on his official Facebook page on Monday that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court had detained the men while they were carrying the cash to Cambodia.
“The result from interrogation shows that the two suspects, Wang Shiping, and Wang Lichao, did bring 3,520,000 US dollars from Hong Kong to Cambodia, claiming to invest in real estate and hotels and that the origin of the cash money is from [a] gambling win in Macao, borrowing from siblings and corporation profits, despite lacking paper evidence,” the post said.
Chantharith declined to comment on the case and immigration spokesman Keo Vannthorn could not be reached.
Chea Serei, National Bank technical officer, could not be reached.
An interior ministry report published in April said the two men had visited Cambodia on numerous occasions in the past.
Ly Sophanna, a municipal court spokesman, told reporters in late April that the suspects were being held under suspicion of money laundering linked to “terror financing”.
If found guilty, the men could face up to five years behind bars.
The Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental body that monitors transnational financial crime, placed Cambodia on its watchlist last year over concerns the country was vulnerable to money laundering.