A broker was sentenced to seven years in prison by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday for trafficking five elderly people from Cambodia to Malaysia, where they hoped to work as beggars.

Presiding judge Mong Mony Sorphea said that Khay Seng, 57, had been charged by the prosecutor with “unlawful removal for cross-border transfer” under the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.

“He has the right to go against this court’s decision and appeal it to the Appeal Court within 30 days if he does not accept it,” the judge said.

According to court documents, the five elderly victims – three men and two women, aged between 60 and 65 – filed a complaint against Seng from Malaysia through the Cambodian Embassy after being jailed there for two months. Seng was arrested in late February of this year, while the five victims were repatriated in May.

Seng and his lawyer couldn’t be reached for comment.