More than 100 people who say they were harmed by delayed housing projects linked to property tycoon Leng Navatra gathered in Phnom Penh on Thursday, accusing him of fraud and demanding that he personally address years of unfulfilled promises.
The protesters are buyers in two developments along National Road 6A and the Chrey 100 project. On January 15, they held banners and used loudspeakers as they briefly blocked the road outside the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, calling for justice.
Chanting through megaphones, demonstrators accused Leng Navatra of misleading the public, saying he frequently displays wealth and luxury cars but has failed to invest in land preparation or build the homes and plots they purchased years ago.
Several banners featured his photograph alongside demands that he refund money paid for houses in the Chrey 100 project. Others criticised what they described as lavish personal spending shared on social media while construction at the sites remained unfinished.
The affected buyers appealed to the Ministry of Land Management to intervene, saying they had been trapped in stalled land and housing projects for many years without resolution.
The protest followed a recent case in which Leng Navatra publicly addressed a complaint by a Cambodian military officer who said he had not received a house despite completing payments to the company.
On January 13, the officer, Vit Kimsan, called on Senate President Hun Sen and Prime Minister Hun Manet to step in after years of delays in the National Road 6A project.
Leng Navatra said on January 14 that, following mediation by the land ministry and agreement from Vit Kimsan, the company would resume construction in line with conclusions reached at a January 2026 meeting.
Buyers say the National Road 6A and Chrey 100 projects have failed to deliver land and homes since 2023. Purchase contracts cited by customers show repeated breaches, with some agreements dating back around seven years.
In December 2023, buyers from another Leng Navatra housing development said the company had violated sales contracts for years by failing to build homes as promised. By 2026, they said, some customers had waited nearly seven years without receiving either houses or land.
Other buyers say they signed contracts requiring homes to be completed within 24 months, but are still waiting years later. One customer said he paid almost 18,000 US dollars in full in October 2021 and has yet to see construction begin.
Former tycoon Heng Sithy, who is currently detained over separate allegations, has previously claimed that Leng Navatra sold non-existent land and housing under instructions from Hun To.
Leng Navatra, whose real name is Leng Pheaktra, is a former migrant worker in South Korea. He entered the property business between 2010 and 2014 and rose rapidly to wealth.
After becoming a young tycoon, he publicly displayed large cash donations to the government led by Hun Sen, described as humanitarian assistance, totalling more than 20 million US dollars. Those actions have fuelled public suspicion that he may have been acting as a front for money laundering linked to powerful figures in Cambodia.
