NYS Assemblyman Bill Nojay Charged with Fraud in Cambodia
New York State Assemblyman Bill Nojay of Pittsford is one of four
Americans charged with fraud in Cambodia.
Reported by the Khmer Times, court proceedings start Monday in Phnom Penh Municipal Court.
The charges are connected to Nojay’s now-defuct rice exporting company, AKRA Agriculture Partners, which the prosecution claims was always an unfunded shell company, according to the report. The plaintiff, Eng Lykuong, claims the assemblyman’s partners, including former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Sichan Siv, convinced her to invest $1 million into the company.
She said she transferred the money to Nojay’s bank account via First Cambodia Bank in 2012. Lykuong said eight months later, her partners told her the company was bankrupt.
“Her complaint added that the AKRA capital was to be used to buy rice directly from farmers. In return for investing $1 million in the company, equal to a fourth of its alleged initial worth, Ms. Lykuong says she was promised assistance from the defendants in securing U.S. citizenship for both herself and her daughter,” reporter Buth Reaksmey Kongkea wrote.
Nojay said the hearing Monday is a motion to dismiss. He said the first judge involved with the case was removed from the bench after Lykuong attempted to bribe him and his clerk was arrested.
The assemblyman said he’s never met the plaintiff and has been doing business in the southeast Asian country since the 1980s. He expects the charges to be dismissed.
Reported by the Khmer Times, court proceedings start Monday in Phnom Penh Municipal Court.
The charges are connected to Nojay’s now-defuct rice exporting company, AKRA Agriculture Partners, which the prosecution claims was always an unfunded shell company, according to the report. The plaintiff, Eng Lykuong, claims the assemblyman’s partners, including former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Sichan Siv, convinced her to invest $1 million into the company.
She said she transferred the money to Nojay’s bank account via First Cambodia Bank in 2012. Lykuong said eight months later, her partners told her the company was bankrupt.
“Her complaint added that the AKRA capital was to be used to buy rice directly from farmers. In return for investing $1 million in the company, equal to a fourth of its alleged initial worth, Ms. Lykuong says she was promised assistance from the defendants in securing U.S. citizenship for both herself and her daughter,” reporter Buth Reaksmey Kongkea wrote.
Nojay said the hearing Monday is a motion to dismiss. He said the first judge involved with the case was removed from the bench after Lykuong attempted to bribe him and his clerk was arrested.
The assemblyman said he’s never met the plaintiff and has been doing business in the southeast Asian country since the 1980s. He expects the charges to be dismissed.
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