Fund for Angkor Wat replica [by Chea Xim's advisor] bogus, report says [-If it's good to be true, it probably is]
Jul 8, 2011DPA
Phnom Penh - A Cambodian official claiming to raise money for a multibillion-dollar replica of Angkor Wat has been basing his campaign on dubious documentation, a newspaper said Friday.
Chhoem Mono, an adviser to Senate President Chea Sim, has been seeking support to build replicas of 13 of the temples in the 12th-century Angkor complex at a cost of 5.53 billion dollars, the Phnom Penh Post reported.
Questions have arisen in connection with some of the documents used in the campaign by his organization, the Community Buddhist Supporting for Cambodia Organisation.
The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, whose seal appears on several documents, was quoted as saying it has never heard of the organization.
The ANZ Royal Bank (Cambodia) Ltd also denied its alleged involvement with the project. Chhoem Mono claimed 500,000 dollars had been transferred into his account there as part of an 'award contract,' the report said.
But the bank's chief executive Stephen Higgins was quoted as saying that this claim could not be true because the bank has never handled such a large transaction.
The overall figures of the project have also prompted questions, the report said. They compare with Cambodia's gross domestic product, estimated as 10.45 billion dollars for 2009. But Higgins said 'implausibly large numbers' can sometimes 'convince some people that it is a legitimate transaction.'
ANZ Royal became suspicious when a man brought documents into one of its branches in Phnom Penh, saying his family had been duped into investing in the project, Higgins said.
The paper quoted Chan Sokeath, deputy president of Community Buddhist Supporting for Cambodia Organisation, as saying that the replica monuments in the south-eastern province of Svay Rieng would be handed to the state as a 'national asset' once finished.
Local police confirmed construction of some sort has been going on at a site linked to Chhoem Mono for at least three years, the paper said.
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