Khmer Rouge Leader Ieng Sary Had US$20m in Hong Kong Account
Victims of the Khmer Rouge may have lost the chance to tap into the hidden wealth of one of the regime’s top leaders who died this month
The death of Ieng Sary - one of three Khmer Rouge leaders accused of genocide and war crimes before a tribunal in Phnom Penh - may have also killed off attempts by victims and their families to recover his assets and hidden wealth, including a bank account in Hong Kong.
It is thought that at one stage US$20 million was in the account.
Ieng Sary died of a heart attack, aged 87, in a Phnom Penh hospital earlier this month.
He was one of supreme leader Pol Pot’s inner circle, ranked as “Brother No 3” in the regime. He and the two remaining defendants -Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan were on trial for genocide at the UN-backed war crimes tribunal.
Among the draconian policies that reduced Cambodia to year zero, was the abolition of money, education and normal family life in the 1970s. Many years later, however, a very different Ieng Sary emerged to enjoy the good life in the capital Phnom Penh from 1996 until his arrest in 2007.
Prime Minister Hun Sen had accepted a deal with Ieng Sary, whose Pailin/Phnom Malai faction of 3,000 Khmer Rouge guerillas split with Pol Pot in 1996, including an amnesty that brought an end to the long-festering insurgency by 1999.
In return, Ieng Sary was allowed to enjoy an elite lifestyle in Phnom Penh, dining out at some of the capital’s finest restaurants along the banks of the Mekong, travelling in a Toyota Land Cruiser and acquiring a spacious mansion valued at an estimated US$150,000. According to municipal records, the house is registered in the name of his daughter, Ieng Vichida.
More: Khmer Rouge Leader Ieng Sary Had US$20m in Hong Kong Account