Koreans Take $2.2 Million Cash Smuggling Case To Supreme Court

Phnom Penh: The Supreme Court on the morning of September 23, 2021, held a hearing on the appeals of two South Korean men convicted of the transportation and importation of more than 2 million US dollars from abroad without documents or sources of information. The offence was committed at Siem Reap International Airport in July 2019.

The trial was presided over by Judge Chiv Keng, Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and President of the Trial Chamber, and Ouk Kimsith, who represented the Supreme Court.

The Korean men are Song Hyunhoo, 44, and Yoon Wongi, 34,.

The two were sentenced by the Siam Provincial Court on October 1, 2020 to two years in prison and a fine of 60 million riel each for “money laundering”.

The Siem Reap Provincial Court also ordered the confiscation of $ 2.2 million in cash, which was put into the national budget.

The two defendants appealed the decision of the Siem Reap Provincial Court to the Battambang Provincial Court of Appeal.

However, the Court of Appeal upheld the verdict of the Siem Reap Provincial Court and they continued to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The two defendants were arrested on July 7, 2019 at the Siem Reap International Airport after they boarded a flight from Hong Kong to Siem Reap, the judge added.

After the arrest, the police at Siem Reap International Airport confiscated $ 2,200,000 and some other undocumented foreign currency without clear sources of information on the importation.

The Supreme Court will announce its verdict on September 29, 2021.