The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday heard the case of a Malaysian and a Sri Lankan charged with using fake bank cards to withdraw up to $50,000 from ATMs during Khmer New Year in 2012.

Delvin Joshap, 30, of Malaysia, had masterminded the crime and been the source of the fake cards, according to deputy prosecutor Heang Sopheak, while Aruna Salam Vinorajh, 34, of Sri Lanka, was sent to withdraw the money from Singapore Banking Corporation (SBC) ATMs around Phnom Penh.

“Delvin Joshap ordered Aruna Salam Vinorajh used fake visa cards at ATMs three times. They are guilty of this crime,” Mr. Sopheak said.

Taking the witness stand, Mr. Salam Vinorajh said that he had met Mr. Delvin in Phnom Penh one month before he was arrested on April 12, 2012, and admitted to withdrawing money from SBC ATMs but claimed ignorance to the fact that the bank cards were bogus.

“At the start, he asked me to withdraw between $2,000 and $3,600 three times,” Mr. Salam Vinorajh said, adding that he used numerous visa cards at SBC ATMs to withdraw a total of about $15,000 over two days.

“All that money belongs to Mr. Delvin. He gave me 36 bank cards and then gave me 10 percent of the money,” he said.

“How could I know that the card is fake if the [security at the ATM] does not arrest me and the ATM gives me the cash?”

For his part, Mr. Delvin admitted to taking about $15,000 from SBC.

“I admit that I committed the crime when police arrested me, but they have accused me of taking $40,000 or $50,000, that is not true,” he said.

SBC is demanding a total of more than $133,000 in pay back and reparations.

Judge Te Sam Ang said the court would issue a verdict on October 11. - The Cambodia Daily