Prince Sisowath Duong Chivan Monirak sentenced to jail for swindling

Prince Sisowath Chivan Monirak, the No. 1 vice-president of the Cambodian senate and the alleged father of Sisowath Duong Chivan Monirak, the accused.

Saturday, May 09, 2009
Dap-news
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Phnom Penh: In the afternoon of 07 May 2009, judge of the Phnom Penh municipal court examined a swindle case in which the accused claimed that he is Prince Sisowath Duong Chivan Monireak, aka Van. The court hearing was presided by Judge Chey Sovann and it was attended by a large number of public participants. The accused was arrested on 01 October 2008 in Phnom Penh city.
The lawsuit brought by Suon Sun Hab, the plaintiff and a former driver (chauffeur) of the above prince, claimed that on 22 July 2008, the prince swindled him of $2,000, the amount for the down payment to a house purchase in Sihanoukville. The house for sale belonged to the prince and it was put on sale for $40,000. When the victim asked the prince, his boss, to see the house in which he put the down payment for, the prince always told him lies. Therefore, the victim decided to sue the prince at the Phnom Penh municipal court. The accused indicated during the hearing that he is also a victim as well, because the alleged house for sale belonged to Duon Sith, when Suon Sun Hab wanted to buy the house, the prince let Suon Sun Hab borrow $10,000.

Hieng Sopheak, the prosecutor, was puzzled: he said that if the prince spent $10,000 of his own money, and he considers himself as a victim, then Suon Sun Hab, the victim, should not sue the prince like this. Therefore, the prince’s claim made no sense at all.

During the hearing, the accused announced that he is Prince Sisowath Duong Chivan Monirak, and he does not have any identification, but he has a picture that shows that he is a member of the royal family only.

About 6 months after the prince was sent to rest at the PJ (Judicial police) jail, the victim withdrew his lawsuit against the prince.

After listening to both the accused the prosecutor, the judge decided to sentence the prince to 1 year in jail, starting from the day of his arrest.

A source indicated that the prince was not only involved in swindling cases like this one, but he was also involved in breach of trust cases as well.

A source indicated that Prince Sisowath Duong Chivan Monirak is the son of Samdech Sisowath Chivan Monirak, who is currently the No. 1 vice-president of the Cambodian Senate. However, Prince Sisowath Chivan Monirak disowned his son because the latter was involved in several illicit cases against the society, thereby he tarnished the image of the royal family.

To confirm that the accused is really a member of the royal family, DAP-news contacted Prince Sisowath Thomico. He said: “ Samdech Chivan Monirak disowned his son Sisowath Duon Chivan Monirak. Prince Thomico said: “I don’t seem to know that Sisowath Duong Chivan Monirak is the son of Samdech Chivan Monirak. There are some people who lie that they are members of the royal family.”