Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his family have built a multimillion-dollar business empire spanning the impoverished country’s most lucrative sectors, a watchdog said on Thursday, warning foreign investors against financing his regime.
Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander who defected from the bloody regime, dominated Cambodia’s political scene during a 31-year rule marked by accusations of corruption, electoral fraud and rampant rights abuses.
During this time, the wily prime minister also used his position handy over control of much of the country’s economy to his family, British watchdog Global Witness detailed in a report on Thursday.
Behind the scenes of Hun Sen’s dictatorial rule, his family accumulates enormous personal wealth
The report, which cites data from the Ministry of Commerce, shows that Hun Sen and his relatives have amassed greater than $200 million through their shares in 114 private corporations.
The family-run businesses span Cambodia’s industrial, financial, energy and media industries and still have business ties with major global brands akin to Visa, Apple and Honda, in line with the report.
“Behind the scenes of Hun Sen’s dictatorial rule, his family is amassing enormous personal fortunes,” the watchdog said, describing “a vast web of secret dealings, corruption and cronyism that help secure the prime minister’s political fortress.”
The prime minister’s eldest daughter, Hun Man, a media mogul, has the most important portfolio within the family and holds shares in 22 corporations, 18 of which list her as president or director, the report added.
Government spokesman Phay Siphan dismissed the report as an try and “discredit” the prime minister.
“The report aims to break the respect of the Cambodian people for the prime minister,” he said.
We don’t listen to it, he added.
The purpose of the report is to interrupt the respect of the Cambodian people for the Prime Minister. We don’t listen to it
However, Patrick Alley, founding father of Global Witness, described Hun Sen as having “almost feudal control over the economy” and urged foreign investors to reassess their holdings.
“Foreign investors can and should stop financing a regime that kills, intimidates or locks up its critics,” he said.
Hun Sen has for a long time rejected accusations of rights abuses and links to bribery and nepotism, and recurrently flouts Western pressure for reform while constructing a robust relationship with China.
China was the most important foreign investor within the fast-growing economy in 2015, with $864 million of $4.44 billion flowing into the country.
Hun Sen has also faced heavy criticism in recent months from human rights groups, who accuse him of suppressing rivals and critics over the 2018 elections.
The European Parliament recently threatened to review nearly $500 million in aid if his government continued its crackdown on opponents, prompting a rebuke from Hun Sen, who warned against interference in domestic politics.
Cambodia has been named by watchdog Transparency International as probably the most bribery-ridden countries on the planet and probably the most corrupt in Southeast Asia.
Additional reporting by Reuters
This article appeared within the print edition of the South China Morning Post as: Watchdog investigates Hun Sen’s ‘vast personal fortune’
