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Updated Oct. 9, 2024, 1:25 p.m. ET
Former Prime Minister Hun Sen said one of his top advisers, Ly Sameth, solicited bribes in exchange for favors and government positions and has defrauded several Cambodians over the last two years – including one incident in which US$10 million was paid.
Hun Sen wrote on Facebook on Monday that Ly Sameth’s assets should be frozen, and Phnom Penh court officials should issue an order to return money he accepted from people.
“Ly Sameth always used my name to cheat people,” he wrote. “He even told people who he had cheated that he had given the money to me.”
Last year, Hun Sen stepped down as prime minister in favor of his son, Hun Manet, but he retains power as Senate president and as head of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, or CPP.
As party president, Hun Sen appointed Ly Sameth as his personal adviser on Feb. 22, 2022.
The Facebook post was apparently prompted by a video message he received from Kan Sok Kay, the recently appointed governor of Kandal province’s Lvea Em district, which is located across the Mekong River from Phnom Penh.
Kan Sok Kay said he gave US$30,000 to Ly Sameth to get the appointment, according to Hun Sen.
“I have signed, appointed and promoted tens of thousands of civil servants and members of the Armed Forces,” Hun Sen wrote. “I never accepted intervention from anyone, no matter what request or bribe.”
Ranked near bottom
Cambodian opposition leaders – many of them now exiled – have long criticized the government for its widespread corruption. Last year, Transparency International placed Cambodia near the bottom of its annual global rankings for public sector corruption.
Additionally, the country’s judiciary continues to be criticized for its lack of independence.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Hun Manet issued a sub-decree removing Kan Sok Kay from his district governor position, saying he had committed serious violations of the Law on the General Statute of Civil Servants.
The US$10 million bribe involved an individual named Sok Leng who handed the money to Ly Sameth in 2022, Hun Sen wrote on Facebook. Word got back to Hun Sen through his adopted child, Try Sokha.
“Then I realized it and I demanded that Ly Sameth return all of the money to Sok Leng,” he wrote.
Hun Sen encouraged all others who gave money to Ly Sameth to file legal complaints, and he ordered his lawyer to coordinate the recovery of any lost funds.
Police officers went to Ly Sameth’s house on Tuesday morning, but he wasn’t at home, Phnom Penh Municipal Police spokesperson Sam Vichheka told Radio Free Asia. Authorities haven’t charged Ly Sameth, but investigators are working on the case, he said.
RFA was unable to reach Ly Sameth for comment on Tuesday. Sam Vichheka told RFA on Wednesday that police have still not located him.
The large-scale corruption outlined in Hun Sen’s post should be investigated by the government’s Anti-Corruption Unit, said Sek Socheat, an adviser to Mindset Development and Research, a Phnom Penh NGO.
There are likely many other instances of corruption, money laundering and bribery among top government officials that have been hidden for years, human rights activist Soeung Senkaruna said.
“There have only been a few cases that have been exposed, but we don’t know how many hundreds of assistants or advisers have committed similar crimes,” he said.
Translated by Sum Sok Ry. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
This story has been updated to add a comment from a human rights activist.