Loran owners resolve disputes, end lawsuits

[PHNOM PENH POST]

Disputes between owners at prominent rice miller Loran Import Export Company have been resolved, with Chief Executive Officer Lim Bunheng set to buy the stake held by prominent media personality Soy Sopheap and his associates, company officials said yesterday.

“We have agreed to end all disputes between [Loran] and Soy Sopheap, with both parties agreeing to withdraw all lawsuits from the court,” Loran Vice President Lim Bunseng told The Post yesterday.

“We also agreed that from now on we will consider each other as family.”

Soy Sopheap and three others had become shareholders in Loran Import Export in July 2010. The dispute stems from November of that year, when Lim Bunheng set up Loran Group excluding Soy Sopheap and three others from the ownership. Soy Sopheap’s lawyer Kuoy Thunnas has said it was unfair to set up a potentially competing company, while Loran Import Export lawyer Khiev Sambo countered that Soy Sopheap’s group had not paid in full for its shares.

Yesterday, Lim Bunseng said the two parties had agreed to end several other legal disputes during a meeting late on Wednesday.

Lim Bunheng and Nokorwat newspaper Managing Editor Touch Kongkea had previously launched lawsuits against Soy Sopheap, accusing him of stealing secret email correspondence and defamation, said Kuoy Thunna. “He [Soy Sopheap] has not committed the crimes as accused,” said Kuoy Thunna, adding he had asked for the charges to be dropped.

But Lim Bunseng told The Post yesterday that the correspondence had been stolen without permission, and sent a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen about the correspondence.

Loran had also filed a defamation lawsuit to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court over Soy Sopheap’s commentary on June 30, 2011, on Bayon TV, claiming Loran avoided paying taxes, said Lim Bunseng. “His commentary is not true and had affected my company’s reputation and honour,” he said.