The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday came to the same conclusion it had some nine months earlier, that fugitive business tycoon Khaou Phallaboth is guilty of plotting to rape and murder the wife and daughter of Transport Minister Sun Chanthol.

Judge San Sophat said the businessman’s 20-year sentence would stand. The decision followed a retrial on November 30. Phallaboth, a dual French-Cambodian citizen wanted by Interpol, was sentenced in absentia for conspiracy to commit rape and premeditated murder in a convoluted plot in 2010, which was apparently foiled by a window being locked.

His former partner Lay Huong was extradited from Thailand in December 2014 and also convicted on the charges, which have since been upheld by the Supreme Court. Four others in the case have been sentenced to between 17 to 20 years for the plot.

Phallaboth is heir to one of Cambodia’s largest business empires, and is a brother-in-law of the transport minister. His lawyer, Lim Vanna, could not be reached for comment, though during the retrial stage expressed uncertainty as to whether his client would again appeal the verdict.