Prime Minister Hun Sen’s nephew Hun To has emphatically denied all allegations published by Australian newspaper The Age about his involvement in a heroin-trafficking and money-laundering syndicate targeting Australia.
Hun To, whose wife and children reside in Melbourne, Australia, told the Post yesterday that he plans to file a lawsuit against The Age in both Cambodia and Australia.
“I will meet [Minster of Interior] Khieu Sopheak to file a complaint to the Ministry of Interior, and then I will file another complaint to the Australian Embassy,” Hun To said. “I will also hire a foreign lawyer in Australia to work on this case and demand the newspaper show evidence of my involvement in those crimes.”
The Age yesterday reported that the Australian Crime Commission targeted Hun To in a 2002-2004 inquiry dubbed Operation Illipango that investigated heroin shipped from Cambodia into Australia…
Chhay Channyda and Bridget Di Certo, P. 1
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012032755268/National-news/drug-connection-denied.html
The Interior Ministry yesterday defended Prime Minister Hun Sen’s nephew, Hun To, following explosive allegations by an Australian newspaper, The Age, which alleged that Australian police had suspected Mr. To of involvement in a drug smuggling and money laundering syndicate.
An official from the Cambodian conglomerate Royal Group also said the company was considering legal action against The Age, as the article had unfairly focused on Royal Group Chairman Kith Meng, even though the report admitted there were no allegations of wrongdoing against Mr. Meng.
On Sunday, The Age published allegations that police had planned to arrest Mr. To in Melbourne, Australia, for his alleged involvement in the illegal shipment of heroin from Cambodia to Australia. …
Phorn Bopha and Simon Lewis, P. 1
http://www.camnet.com.kh/cambodia.daily/ (Note: Infrequently Updated.)
The inquiry that targeted Hun To, dubbed Operation Illipango, investigated the shipment of heroin into Australia from Cambodia in loads of timber.
Hun To, a nephew of Prime Minister Hun Sen, is a powerful and feared figure in Cambodia. He was once considered a close business associate of Cambodia’s richest man, tycoon Kith Meng, who owns the Royal Group investment and development empire.
Operation Illipango investigated suspected drug funds taken to Crown casino in Melbourne, from where — under the suspected oversight of Hun To — they were then moved to Asia. …
The Age
http://www.theage.com.au/national/investigations/drugs-our-man-in-cambodia-20120325-1vsiz.html
