Cambodian casino accused of torturing staff after $161k goes missing

A Cambodian casino is under fire for allegedly torturing three Indonesian employees over some purloined casino cash.

Earlier this week, the Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh asked police to arrest employees of the Grand Dragon Resort for allegedly mistreating Indonesian nationals who worked at the casino. The casino, which is based in Kandal province near the Vietnamese border, is owned by the Dai Long Company.

Cambodia Daily reported that the casino employed 17 Indonesian nationals, one of whom fled on May 9 along with $161k of the casino’s funds. The Indonesian embassy claims the “mafia-style” casino ordered the detention of the remaining Indonesians, three of whom “suffered physical abuses from the casino” while all 16 had been “threatened by the casino’s leader with an electric shock device.”

Grand Dragon Resort attorney Ros Sitha rejected the torture allegations, saying: “They are staff, how can we torture them?” Sitha added that the casino had “enough evidence to show that [the other Indonesians] committed the crime” and told the embassy not to get involved in this “private issue.”