Cambodian conman claims to be a god, cheats believers

By Kate Bartlett

PHNOM PENH

Cambodian authorities are looking for a man who claimed he was a reincarnation of the Buddha in order to cheat followers out of money, local media reported Saturday.

Police raided Thean Vuthy’s self-built pagoda in southern Kandal province last week, confiscating religious photographs and videos that were for sale but the man himself had fled, according to The Cambodia Daily.

Vuthy had come to the attention of authorities for his scams before, police said, but this time was worse because he had actually called himself a "god" and sat in the part of the pagoda where the statue of Buddha is generally placed.

"He did wrong by using religion to cheat people [and] he also broke the religious code when he sat on the throne and allowed people to pay him their respects," The Daily reported Ministry of Cults and Religion spokesman Seng Somony as saying.

Cambodians and even Thais had flocked to see Vuthy -- who they believed to have divine powers -- and both Thai authorities and Cambodia’s Ministry of Cults and Religion have released statements warning against the fraud.

It was unclear how much money Vuthy had cheated followers out of.

"Mr. Thean Vuthy is not an honest person -- he built a pagoda, he collected money -- and if the Cults and Religion Ministry do not punish him he will keep doing it," said But Buntenh, a prominent Cambodian monk.

It is not the first time Cambodians have been taken in by someone impersonating a deity.

In 2005, police arrested a monk who sold a "magic turtle" to a local woman. When the woman then set up her own business saying her turtle performed miracles, the monk tried to reclaim it and a fight broke out.

The monk was also discovered to be in possession of a letter in which he had forged Prime Minister Hun Sen’s signature. The letter stated the monk was a reincarnation of the Buddha. He was set to court on charges of having impersonated a god.

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