Bretton G. Sciaroni, an American lawyer who became a powerful business broker and an adviser to the government in Cambodia after being fired as a White House official when he became embroiled in the Iran-contra scandal, died on March 12 at his home in Phnom Penh, the nation’s capital . He was 69.

He had been ill for some time, friends said, but no autopsy was performed to determine the cause of death. Two fancy pens were placed in his pocket when he was buried, an honor generally reserved for senior officials.

In more than three decades in Cambodia, Mr. Sciaroni became a well-connected figure in legal and business circles there as he offered legal opinions to the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen. One served to justify the prime minister’s seizure of full power in a violent 1997 coup.

read more https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/26/world/asia/bretton-sciaroni-dead.html

NGL