Washington filing seeks records tied to Thailand case and H.R. 5490

Cambodian national Leak Yim has filed an application in U.S. Federal district court in Washington D.C. Seeking court-ordered discovery over allegations made against him in Thailand.

Seiden Law LLP filed the request on behalf of Mr. Yim and his family. It seeks documents and sworn testimony from people in the United States.

The application was made under 28 U.S.C. § 1782. That law lets parties gather evidence in the United States for use in proceedings abroad.

According to the filing, the material could help uncover false and misleading information that may have led to Mr. Yim’s prosecution in Thailand and his identification to Congress as being linked to scam centres in Asia.

Federal court records list the matter as Civil Docket For Case#: 1:26-mc-00095-ACR in Washington D.C.

H.R. 5490 and Thailand case

If the court grants the request, the discovery could show why Mr. Yim was included in, and later removed from, the initial draft of U.S. House Bill H.R. 5490.

It also seeks to identify who was behind that inclusion and what motives they may have had.

Robert Seiden, managing partner of Seiden Law and lead lawyer for Mr. Yim, said: “Mr. Yim and his young family are the apparent victims of guilt by association and political persecution.”

Seiden added: “Mr. Yim has never been convicted of a crime in any country and is repulsed by illegal cyber-crime centres in Asia. Mr. Yim is also not sanctioned.”

As set out in the 1782 application, media organisations and journalists have worked in concert with Thailand’s government since September 2025 in a campaign that disparaged Mr. Yim and his family.

Mr. Yim denies the media allegations entirely and has been providing evidence of his innocence to the Thai court.

Seiden also said Mr. Yim is the son of one of the founders of Cambodia’s modern democracy, lived in America for more than a decade, and served in Cambodia’s military.

In addition, the filing says Mr. Yim runs his family’s real estate business and funds medical care and food for people in need.

Documents cited in the briefing also point to support for hospitals and healthcare facilities, the creation of thousands of legitimate jobs across Southeast Asia, and donations to charitable causes.

Those causes include the Cambodian Red Cross, disaster relief efforts, and paediatric healthcare institutions.

Meanwhile, Seiden Law says evidence obtained through the 1782 process would help show how Mr. Yim is a victim in Thailand.