Police have seized property from a rented house in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district belonging to a recruitment firm that allegedly cheated money from some 100 Cambodians hoping to find work in Thailand.

Following a complaint last week to the Ministry of Labour by the workers – who say they paid around $300 each in fees to the company, called Chin Vanda Manpower – officials decided to forcibly enter the premises to reclaim passports and assets as compensation.

Chiv Phally, deputy director of the Ministry of Interior’s anti-human trafficking department, reported that some 189 passports and 26 identity cards were seized, alongside computers and other property.

Worker Doch Sophos explained that they had asked for further intervention by the Ministry of Labour to compensate for their losses.

“We think that the property is not enough to pay nearly 100 people. The Ministry told us that the company is illegal and did not keep a deposit at the ministry, so it will be difficult to find a solution,” he said.

He added that police had arrested company staff, but the owner remained at large.

Heng Sour, a spokesman for the Ministry Labour said that his department was attempting to resolve the matter.