Brigardier General Hin Sok Kheng, deputy police chief of Cambodia’s Takeo Province, was placed under investigation following complaints from Takeo police officers and residents last December, Khmer Times on Tuesday cited deputy chief of the Interior Ministry’s Inspection Office Lieutenant Colonel Seng Kimheng as saying.

Seng Kimheng said four Vietnamese investors and two Cambodian men have accused Sok Kheng of illegally confining and extorting $300,000 from them at the end of 2019.

The accusation, dated last December, alleged Sok Kheng and his police officers arrested one Vietnamese man and extorted $200,000 from him at the end of 2019, while detained three Vietnamese and two Cambodians and extorting $100,000 from them as ransom within the same time frame.

Sok Kheng and his accomplices allegedly confiscated rings and necklaces from their victims, but later returned these earlier this month, according to the accusation.

An investigation is ongoing. If accusations are proved accurate, Sok Kheng would be punished in accordance with the Cambodian National Police’s code of ethics, said National Police spokesperson Lieutenant General Chhay Kim Khoeun.