Cambodian Cyber Tycoon and ‘Singapore Washing’
Yim Leak seeks to upgrade image with dodgy PR firm
By: Andy Wong Ming Jun
On June 12, a Canadian social media influencer named Ryan Kelly posted a reel on Instagram exposing a seemingly new and novel PR tactic being employed by high-powered individuals in the Asia-Pacific embroiled in ongoing transnational financial crime investigations.
Kelly disclosed that a short while ago, he had received a cold pitch from an individual named “Emily Grant” about a potential paid messaging sponsorship that fit into his comedy niche covering global news and political topics. Grant claimed to be representing a PR management company purportedly based out of Singapore by the name of “Mezink”, offering a one-off fee of US$25,000 in exchange for a video on a specific topic with a scripted message to be approved by Mezink.
There were a few problems. In his Instagram post, Kelly shared that his due diligence research on “Mezink” and “Emily Grant” exposed that, both were actually Indian Nationals in origin.
The other major red flag was the specific client and message looking to utilize Mezink’s services to be Astroturfed onto social media. Mezink’s client is the wealthy and politically-connected Cambodian tycoon Yim Leak, embroiled with ongoing investigations into his involvement with Cambodian online scam rings fronted by corporate entities such as the Prince Group…
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