Part Thirteen: The Kingdom of Dishonesty

Fragment I

On my return to Cambodia on 18 May 2007, I felt like I was in a pleasant dream. I expected that I would be in a world where little has changed, and that being there would bring me joy.

At the airport, three brothers met me: Bunnaroeun, Murat and Vladimir. We all went to the Cambodiana hotel. Driving around the Phnom Penh, it was impossible not to see how much things have changed. New housing estates are now scattered all over the city. However, the roads were not improved to keep up with these developments. The endless snake of a cars and scooters streaming along the roads like a dirty water. Despite these evidences of pollution, one cannot deny that the city is becoming more and more modern

When we arrived at the Cambodiana, I still felt like I was having a pleasant dream. While Mr. Mohan Gunti, who was the personal assistant of Bunnaroeun An, was taking care of the check-in procedures for us, we were enjoying the beautiful melody of a harp. The performer was expertly plucking the strings, which sounded like pure water filling the thirsty souls of everyone who were present.

Bunnaroeun, during our conversations, was occasionally expressing his distaste for the recent events involving ABA Bank. I tried my best to pacify him. I would tell him that we should not let their dishonesty touch us, and that we should remain honest and move forward towards our goal.

Just before my departure, I had a business meeting with Robert Armao regarding his work at that time. I was pleased to know that his progress had been tremendous.

Therefore, since Mr. Armao was aware of my upcoming visit to Cambodia, he informed me about the main trends and interests of his company. I was given the task of checking the integrity and availability of all existing projects to ensure the safety of future investments. That was the main point of my conversation with Bunnaroeun. I had focused on creating a positive direction for the structure of Armao & Co. in Cambodia, and I originally did not want to deviate from this. On the other hand, a visiting delegation from Kazakhstan would need to be processed in the atmosphere of goodness and unity. Therefore, I was forced to ask Bunnaroeun to leave all of his personal ambitions toward Dr. Ahn, and to only be guided by the interests of the company. I was very pleased that he agreed.

After getting rooms for unpacking our luggage and the gift-giving ceremony, we all went downstairs where Bunnaroeun introduced me to new brothers. They were nice fellows of Malaysian and Chinese origin. They were executives for Litech Company of Malaysia, specializing in total telecommunication and networking solutions. The purpose of their visit to Phnom Penh was to explore the possibility of finding an additional source of income. Bunnaroeun, with his usual manner, energetically showed them all of the available opportunities in Cambodia, which were plentiful. Their interests included the search for the possibility of acquiring sand pits, with the future intent to export sand to Vietnam. However, unfortunately, the government quotas had limited the possibility of sand export. Bunnaroeun convinced them otherwise. He told them that, on this occasion, the Government could assist in changing the installation restrictions.

Nevertheless, so far, everything was in fraternal mode including restaurants, girls and brothers. In the morning, they flew on a model MI-8 helicopter of old Soviet origin made 1969. Bunnaroeun proposed to rent it for $6000 an hour and they had no alternative but to agree in order to explore potential business sight. The older brother, E. P. Tan, offered to let me join them for a ride on the helicopter the next morning, but I excused myself. When I learned the time of the supposed ride, the model and year the machine was made, I recalled my services in the military forces and I suggested that they do not forget to take earplugs and try to avoid a heavy breakfast before the ride.

They were deeply tied to Bunnaroeun and saw him as an omnipotent man who knew the whereabouts of treasures. Therefore, being surrounded by a fraternity, girls and the idea of imminent riches, the two brothers were spending money without a twinge of guilt that created a wonderful atmosphere. However, at the time of my arrival, they had already been together a week and had spent a pretty penny. They were relieved at my arrival and handed me the reins of Bunnaroeun’s custody.

With us in Cambodiana lived a friend of Murat and Vladimir. He was introduced to me as a businessperson from Kiev, Alexander who came to Cambodia to look for treasures. Bunnaroeun was the guiding star who was to illuminate the path to riches. The atmosphere that prevailed in Cambodiana was ever great, which brought joy and kindness from all over the world. Bunnaroeun looked like a living icon, facing all of the little requests and desires. In one of the happy moments, we called him "A Little Buddha," to which he was similar.

Although when he began talking with me about his hatred for Dr. Ahn, he changed from the "Little Buddha" into the main character of the great Mikhail Bulgakov’s satirical fiction “The Heart of a Dog." At this point, I once again put forth tremendous effort to change him from Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov and back into the face of the beloved "Little Buddha" to fill this beautiful soul. Besides that, Harry Bloomfield was due to arrive in slightly less than two days.

In one of the restaurants where Bunnaroeun took us, we were met by a middle-aged man whom Bunnaroeun introduced as Mr. Kennedy. Combining the facts, I realized that I had seen this name in some correspondence with Bloomfield, who in turn was notified via carbon copy. SoKennedy, who was involved the ongoing process of selling ABA Bank, gave me the opportunity to assume that his diligence in this process was related to ABA bank.

At the table reined a wonderful atmosphere of friendship and understanding, where the highlight was a strengthening of the friendships between all those present, who lived in different parts of our beautiful planet, but still had encountered the land of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Of course, the joyous atmosphere that prevailed around the table called for the continuation of fun and, as they say, "All roads lead to Rome." I heard the voice of the heart of the army of Bunnaroeun who decided to move to The Rock Entertainment.

At the entrance, Mr. Kennedy insisted on giving me a ride in his Mercedes as Bunnaroeun pointed out his own car. In a moment, after receiving a sign of approval from Bunnaroeun, we were comfortably accommodated at the back seat with Mr. Kennedy in his not new, but in decent condition, black Benz.

After pausing, to tune the mood to a channel of suiting for the conversation, Mr. Kennedy started to approach the ABA bank subject. “You know,” he began, “our connections are more powerful then Bunnaroeun’s; the deal (the ABA Bank sale) must be finalized no matter what.” At that point, the cabin of Mr. Kennedy’s Mercedes, grew chilly forcing me to strain the muscles in my shoulders, just to keep from shivering; I did not know exactly what caused this the monotonous voice of a stranger in his car or the air-conditioner, but after a little management of my posture I was able to continue listening with full attention. “Our contact is strong and powerful Government official, who has more power than the old man (The President of the Senate) your friend (Bunnaroeun), is serving,” he continued. “We want you to secure this deal,” he said. This was met with silence. I understood his “We” to include Dr. Ahn, Harry Bloomfield, Mr. Kennedy himself, and the new figure, “strong and powerful Government official,” which gave me a right clue to assume of the Prime Minister’s supervision. From that point on, I felt a bit more relieved, as I was cooperating and hardly working on behalf of Bloomfield in this subject. Relaxing my muscles a small bit, I informed Mr. Kennedy that “everything is under control, Bloomfield will arrive shortly, Bunnaroeun will accept Dr. Ahn’s apology, and the whole deal will go just fine.” I wanted to send some more information to the Prime Minister through this messenger, but we had arrived beneath the neon sign of Rock Entertainment. With a feeling that my door might not open from the inside, I waited a moment for Mr. Kennedy’s driver to do so. Mr. Kennedy wished me good luck and excused himself for not accompanying us, saying that he had to take care of some unfinished business.

Bunnaroeun was waiting for me outside. His face was pale, and reflected the lighting. I noticed some sadness on his face. I put my hand over his shoulder and said, “Mr. Kennedy sent an apology from Dr. Ahn. Everything is fine, Brother.” Then I asked, “Where are the others?” He told me, “They are inside, so let’s go.” I lead him through the door.

The next morning, May 19, 2007, Bunnaroeun called me at 7:00a.m., and asked if I would go with him on a helicopter ride. I excused myself, stating that I have “a helicopter” next to me in my bed, and wished him a fun time. We agreed to have a massage later, when he got back.

The day was great when Bunnaroeun came back on early afternoon, with his Malaysian brothers, to the Cambodiana hotel after the helicopter ride during which they observed business sights. Their appearance reminded me of scenes from movies about war, where soldiers had broken through the encirclement and finally reached a safe ground; their eyes wide-open, their hair tousled and their faces dusty; while they spoke loudly and could hardly hear. Catching a little bit of their excitement that they were still alive, I regretted not having joined them.

After giving them time to change their clothes, we decided to go to the Mittapheap Phnom Penh Hotel to have massages, with dinner thereafter. Bunnaroeun loved to go to that place because of his soul mate, a girl who was singing there. Even though we were comfortably relaxing in the Cambodiana hotel and had no need to go elsewhere; we happily agreed to support our brother’s wish.

In the end, our massages were great.

Cute, young girls with excellent knowledge of the techniques of Thai massage can magically return your body to the perfect time of your youth, removing all the accumulated years of weariness. Immersing your feet in steam drums causes vapor to flow through your body and return it to a beautiful color that recalls that period of life gone by, when the baby wrapped in a towel is placed into the authority of maternal hands.

Dinner at the open terrace of the Mittapheap Hotel restaurant was nice. Our brother Bunnaroeun was surrounded with the beautiful voice of his love singer while she performed a colorful song of his country. Drinks were poured into everybody’s glasses and toasts were shouted over dinner to Cambodia and Bunnaroeun. The next day was supposed to an important one. The liveliness of the people at our table gave me the opportunity to turn my thoughts to the future of tomorrow and the promised arrival of the delegation from Kazakhstan to whom I had not been previously introduced. I had the honor of being introduced to Harry Bloomfield by Barry Tucker and in the course of our conversation with Harry about the ABA deal, where I was in constant contact with him that gave me a good feeling about our friendship.

The schedules for the arrivals of Harry Bloomfield and the delegation from Kazakhstan were very comfortable. Harry’s plane was supposed to land at 5:00 p.m. and the Kazakhstan delegation at 18:30. Bunnaroeun arranged a car for the President of Senate to meet the delegation. We were not in a hurry as the Cambodiana hotel was not that far from the airport. Still, sirens accompanied our ride toward the meeting.

At the entrance to the airport, Bunnaroeun noticed Dr. Ahn among the welcoming crowd and drew my attention. He uttered something unintelligible but I assumed its meaning and decided not to press him to repeat it. I followed Bunnaroeun to the border zone where visas were registered. Unauthorized personnel were banned from the area, so we had the advantage of seeing Bloomfield before Dr. Ahn was able to see him.

Finally, I noticed Bloomfield coming down the stairs to the visa registration booth. He was not as glamorous as he was when I met him at the Richard Tucker Foundation event at the Harmony Club. It was obvious that the flight was not easy and caused him to feel tired. On his face, I could read the sorrow of all Jewish history. When he saw me, his smile flashed again and he cheerfully stood up straighter. During a welcoming ceremony, I presented to him Bunnaroeun saying, "My friend and brother, Minister Bunnaroeun An." Bunnaroeun bowed, putting the palms of his hands together in a prayer position, to which Harry responded with the same position, and holding a business card with both hands stretched out to the Minister and saying, “It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Minister.” Bunnaroeun answered in the same way, also holding out his card.

Harry was given an advantage when Bunnaroeun stepped away to greet his friends from the Department of Customs. Clutching his shoulders and putting his lips in a zigzag shape, with characteristic irony, he asked, "Is this a Minister?" I understood his surprise because Harry was brimming with the same fear as Dr. Ahn that it is not fitting to face the good man of small stature, who was actually Bunnaroeun. But Harry rescued me from having to provide an explanation when he saw Dr. Ahn directing him with cordiality.

To me, Dr. David Chi Hun Ahn, the President & CEO of ABA Bank, seemed to be a good and honorable man. Being Korean origin and overweight in his sixties, his appearance seemed painful and caused me to be sympathetic toward the dishonest act of which he was convicted. Nevertheless, I knew that some evil force compelled him to descend into such humiliation.

After a short embrace, Harry introduced me to his friend: "This is Gregory, our savior." In turn, Dr. Ahn grabbed with his both hands my outstretched hand to greet him and low bow touched my hand to his forehead, which was nothing but gratitude for the noble mission that I undertook to carry. I admit that I was very pleased with the honor that made me continue my mission, and I quickly agreed to a farewell meeting the next day at the hotel Cambodiana. I promised that the time would be specified later. I must confess that I did not want to linger with them, as Bunnaroeun was still angry with Dr. Ahn and his actions could not be predictable when he saw the man.

We went into the VIP area to meet the delegation from Kazakhstan. On the way, Bunnaroeun gnashed his teeth and complained about Dr. Ahn’s dishonorable act. I tried to calm him down by saying that Dr. Ahn seems to be a distinguished man, and it is quite possible that someone else was trying to deceive us. Bunnaroeun stated, “This is Cambodia, not the US, and such dishonest behavior is approached from a different perspective.” He continued that if it were not for my intervention and nobility, the offenders would have had a very tough time, the bank would eventually be closed, and Dr. Ahn and his entire team would be in jail.

I did not oppose him with the contrary information I had gotten last night from Mr. Kennedy, who had said that the bank as well is in the hands of strong and powerful Government official interest’s, but somewhere in the back of my mind I understood that he could be right.

When he made a short pause in his angry tirade, I said with a smile that the ABA would move the stone and allow the flow of clean water to spread our good deeds; I suggested that we not return to more subjects that are negative. One of the airport workers said that our plane, which was caring a delegation from Kazakhstan, had landed, and Bunnaroeun invited us to follow him to the gate. Murat, Vladimir and I willingly followed him to the arriving plane.