The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday charged a couple with procurement of prostitution for allegedly offering sex services out of their coffeeshop in the capital’s Meanchey district in exchange for a cut of the sex workers’ earnings.

Major Sok Kimsreng, an officer with the Ministry of Interior’s anti-human trafficking police, said suspect Duong Lim, 60, and his wife, Pham Thi Hieng, 38 – both Vietnamese nationals – employed six prostitutes, with at least one as young as 17.

“They allowed girls who worked in their coffeeshop to have sex with their clients in exchange for getting a commission from them,” Kimsreng said. “If found guilty, they will be punished with up to five years’ imprisonment each.”

Kimsreng said the two were picked up in a raid on their coffee shop and a nearby guesthouse in Meanchey district’s Boeung Tompun commune.

The six women caught in the operation – of whom five were also Vietnamese nationals – were sent to a municipal rehabilitation centre.

Court prosecutor Vong Visoth, who is in charge of the case, could not be reached for comment yesterday.