A 35-year-old Phnom Penh man allegedly set up a fake checkpoint in Dangkao district pretending to be an official, stopping vegetable trucks to extort money, municipal military police said.
Chen Kor was arrested on Saturday night for fraud, the military police said in a statement, and sent him to the municipal court on Monday. The man had set up a roadblock for the purpose of the extortion, the statement said.
National Military Police spokesperson Eng Hy said on Tuesday that a citizen disguising themselves as a member of the authorities and extorting money was a clear crime. Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesperson Y Rin could not be reached for further details on the case.
Yong Kim Eng, president of the People’s Center for Development and Peace, said such cases could impinge on the reputations of “good, competent officials.”
“Taking strict action on that issue is a good thing that gives people confidence,” he said.
In June, five suspects were arrested in two separate cases for impersonating police officers. In one case, also in Phnom Penh’s Dangkao district, four suspects carried out extortion against residents in Prey Veng commune, and were arrested and sent to court. A few days later, a suspect, Sao Chan Sola, was arrested for wearing a police uniform, saying he was the deputy director of the police’s anti-drug department, and forging National Police documents.
(Translated and edited from the original article on VOD Khmer)
