Nearly a month after evading arrest, Ly Sameth, a former advisor to Senate President Hun Sen, was captured and sent to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for questioning. Before his arrest, he released a video confessing his mistake and apologized to Hun Sen.
Sam Vichheka, spokesperson of the Phnom Penh Municipal Police, confirmed that Sameth was arrested in Preah Sihanouk province and sent to Phnom Penh on the evening of November 4.
Vichheka told CamboJA News that the arrest was made in accordance with legal procedures, while the authorities are currently continuing the procedure.
“Last night, we brought him from Sihanoukville to the Phnom Penh police commissioner to carry out the procedure. The police are working on the case,” he said.
Y Rin, Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesperson did not respond to CamboJA News’ phone calls and Telegram messages.
According to Freshnews, Sameth was sent to Phnom Penh Municipal Court at 10 a.m on November 5.
Sameth was allegedly on the run for more than three weeks, but on the afternoon of November 4, he released a video apologizing to Hun Sen for “mistakenly using the leader’s name to defraud others several times”.
In his apology video, Sameth acknowledged that the story posted by Hun Sen on his Facebook page was “entirely true”.
“I used Samdech’s name to take other people’s money. This is a real story and this is not the first time. Not only that, [I also said that] all the money was given to Samdech, but this is a story I fabricated,” he said in the video.
Shortly after Sameth’s video, Hun Sen requested the authorities to arrest him and send him to court for immediate legal action, although Sameth requested medical treatment at home before going to the court.
Sameth said he was ill and was staying at his child’s house. He has diabetes and a stomach ailment, but the primary problem was nephrotic syndrome, which has caused severe swelling and left him unable to walk.
He asked for a “little time” to recover and promised to confess before the authorities and court in accordance with the law. He assured that he “only needed a short time, not long, and that he had no intention of fleeing”.
On October 7, 2024, Hun Sen posted a message on his Facebook page stating that Sameth had used his name to defraud people of “hundreds of millions of dollars”. Hun Sen asked the court to freeze Sameth’s assets and ordered Ky Tech, president of Samdech Techo Volunteer Lawyers, to record complaints from the victims to claim compensation.
A day after the social media post, police raided Sameth’s house in Russey Keo district, but did not find him.
Ky Tech, a head of government lawyer group established by Hun Sen, declined to comment about Sameth, saying that “[we] request to keep this confidential on the basis of professionalism”.
Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) spokesperson Soy Chan Vichet told CamboJA News that Sameth’s cases are under investigation by the police and they will ascertain if it relates to corruption. ACU will be working on this case.
“This case is not under us yet. For now, we [ACU] are still collecting information and the police are working on the matter,” Chan Vichet said.
Recall that L’vea Em district governor Korn Sokkay had allegedly offered $300,000 to Sameth to be fielded as mayor.
After the case broke, Prime Minister Hun Manet issued a sub-decree terminating Sokkay as L’vea Em district governor for committing “severe unethical acts” contrary to the Law on the General Statute of Civil Servants Civilization of Cambodia.
Meanwhile, Hun Sen issued an additional statement on November 4 stating that Sameth’s apology and confession video will not aid his case. Hun Sen said his former assistant Duong Dara has also been detained, pending trial in connection with a fraud case involving Sameth. Dara was placed in Phnom Penh prison, also known as “PJ”, on October 14 after being accused of fraud.
“I urge the authorities, the police or military police, to bring Sameth to court to be punished according to the law. I hope they do not allow him to evade the law,” Hun Sen said on his Facebook page.
The Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) appointed Sameth as an advisor to Hun Sen in 2022. The decision of the appointment was based on the request of the party and the opinion of CPP president Hun Sen.
Meas Nee, a political analyst, mentioned a Khmer saying, “if you clean the house, you clean from above”, in relation to Sameth’s case which highlights the government’s scrutiny of senior leaders’ aides.
The case showed the government’s willingness to address abuse of power and hold leaders accountable, especially where existing measures to prevent such abuses are absent, he said.
Pech Pisey, executive director of Transparency International Cambodia (TIC), said the most crucial aspect of the case was the effective enforcement against the suspect to uncover the truth and gather evidence against him.
However, Pisey noted that the Corruption Perceptions Index 2023 showed that Cambodia was still affected by serious corruption as indicated by the low ranking. “We only have 22 points out of 100. Zero means most corrupt, while 100 means innocent.”
