Russian wanted on explosives charges

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Tat Oudom, David Boyle and Charles Rollet

Exclusive

Police are seeking the arrest of a Russian kindergarten owner in Sihanoukville who is wanted by Interpol for serious alleged crimes including “illegal possession of explosives” linked to organised crime.

Oleg Tikhanov, who is the employer of several men involved in a vicious brawl earlier this month that left a man in hospital with stab wounds, is listed on the organisation's website as wanted in Russia for a raft of weapons-related offences.

The Interpol website lists those offences as “Illegal possession and storage of firearms, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices or its [sic] spare parts committed by [an] organized criminal group”.

Lim Sokha Raksmey, acting director of the Cambodian Interpol office, confirmed on Friday that he had received a high alert from Interpol International and authorities were poised to take action.

“We accept that this guy is quite a dangerous person that we need to start working on and investigating,” he said, declining to give further details on the operation.

A 45-year-old expatriate who resides in Sihanoukville, Tikhanov is the owner of the company Oceania, which runs a raft of businesses including the Oceania Kindergarten, the Oceania Boutique Hotel and the Garage Bar.

He did not respond to calls and emails from the Post on Friday, and Oceania staff told the Post he had not been seen since Wednesday.

A Garage Bar employee said he knew nothing about Tikhanov's charges in Russia.

Lotus Tours, the official tour operator for the cancelled kaZantip music festival, has alleged that a January 13 brawl erupted after Tikhanov's men attacked their employees at Queenco casino with knives and demanded a $45,000 cut of the profits from the event.

In an exclusive interview last Friday, Tikhanov told the Post all he could say was “lies, lies, and again lies”.

CCTV footage of the incident viewed by the Post showed that several men had jumped on Tikhanov's men and beaten one of them into the ground.

The Post has obtained a letter sent from Nikita Marshunok, “president” of the kaZantip Republic, to Sihanoukville police commissioner Seang Kosal which alleges that on January 24, Tikhanov and at least six associates arrived on Koh Puos demanding money.
“They came and surrounded me, and in emotional and aggressive form tried to explain that they “control all business questions in Sihanoukville, and asked to pay them 45,000 USD – if not, they ‘dig me in the jungle or drown to the sea.’” the letter reads.

Seang Kosal declined to comment on Friday, and Sihanoukville deputy governor Chhin Seng Nguon said he was unaware of the Interpol warrant against Tikhanov.

Interpol’s Lim Sokha Raksmey said Tikhanov was just one of many foreigners causing headaches in the costal tourist hot spot.

"We have quite a few Russians in Sihanoukville with problems," he said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VANDY MUONG, GRIFF TAPPER AND BENNETT MURRAY

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/russian-wanted-explosives-charges

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Another alleged Russian attack in S'ville

Fri, 27 February 2015

Tat Oudom and Maxime Elvinger

A group of Russians opened fire on a Turkish national’s vehicle in Preah Sihanouk province at about 11pm on Thursday night, leaving one Cambodian bystander with a bullet wound to his leg, police have said.

The attack comes just weeks after three people were injured, one with a stab wound, after a violent brawl at Sihanoukville’s Queenco hotel allegedly linked to Russian mafia elements in the province.

Provincial police chief Seang Kosal told the Post on Friday that the attack happened near the Kampong Som City Casino, where his officers found an abandoned Lexus 300 with two bullet holes in it and five shell casings on the ground nearby.

Eyewitnesses reportedly saw a Lexus with no license plates chased down by a group of men in a small sports car, who fired twice into the rear of the vehicle and then repeatedly shot into the sky after the driver had fled.

Police said multiple witnesses had confirmed the attackers were speaking Russian.

“The case was a revenge [attack] that was provoked by a Russian group that attacked a Turkish man who was working at the Canoe Sea Cambodia company, which brings customers from [Preah] Sihanouk [province] to Koh Rong [island],” Kosal said.

Sorn Phala, 27, an employee of the Independence Hotel, was hit in the thigh by a deflected bullet. He is recovering at a local clinic and will be questioned in coming days, Kosal added.

Men Vanny, chief of the Preah Sihanouk police’s minor crimes department identified the target of the attack as Mehmet Tekoglu, who he said was already under investigation for allegedly assaulting an Israeli man on Wednesday.

Tekoglu’s Facebook page states he works for Sea Cambodia.


Outside the provincial police station on Friday, a Post reporter taking photos of a bullet hole in the Lexus was threatened by Tekoglu, who demanded they be deleted. Police then took Tekoglu into custody.

On February 13, a vicious brawl broke out between alleged rival Russian gangs at the offices of Lotus Tours in the Queenco Hotel. Lotus Tours was the official tour operator for the recently cancelled kaZantip music festival.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/another-alleged-russian-attack-sville