Two Indonesian businesspersons who are wanted for alleged online fraud and have been missing since March were given Cambodian citizenship months before they went missing, according to the Royal Gazette.

The Cambodian government issued citizenship to Indonesian national Andreyanto on October 21, 2022, and his name was changed to Anderson William. A week later on October 28, Lauw Swan Hie Samuel was given citizenship and his name changed to Smith Boa.

Indonesian company Simbiotik Multitalenta Indonesia defaulted earlier this year after promising investors high returns through a scheme called Net89, according to the South China Morning Post. The owner of the company is Andreas Andreyanto and its director is Lauw Swan Hie Samuel.

The SCMP story from March states that Andreyanto and Samuel were part of at least nine executives wanted for fraud and that the two had fled the country. 

According to CNBC Indonesia, Simbiotik Multitalenta Indonesia was not registered with the country’s official business registry nor with an industry association. The company had claimed on its website that it had a company registration and permit to sell its products.

The Cambodian Ministry of Commerce, however, has a listing for Simbiotik Multitalenta International (Cambodia), whose director is Andre Yanto from Surabaya, Indonesia, which is where the Net89 operations took place.

The company also posted a video to YouTube on April 15, 2021, where Andreyanto showed off its office in Phnom Penh’s Canadia Tower. Simbiotik Multitalenta International’s official address registered with the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce is the same as that of Canadia Tower.

A group of 5,500 victims of Simbiotik Multitalenta International called Gempur Net89 have been working with Indonesian police investigators to identify assets for seizure to repay victims.