A Cambodian charity says that Angelina Jolie owes them over $1 million in promised funding after abruptly stopping donations last December. Instead of giving the $1.5 million in funds to the forest conservation group she was helping, she decided to start her own agency to oversee the work without telling them first:

In 2003, Cambodia approved a forest conservation project funded by Jolie, for which she promised up to $1.5 million for community-based work over five years in remote areas of northwestern Cambodia.

The project was to be implemented in partnership with the Cambodian non-profit group Cambodian Vision in Development, or CVD.

The group’s director, Mounh Sarath, on Monday accused the Hollywood actress of cheating after she stopped providing money to his group without explanation.

But Sam Borana, Jolie’s attorney in Cambodia, said she was merely exercising her right to oversee the work, and was establishing a separate organization in Cambodia to which she would provide the funds.

The money for Jolie’s project — dubbed the “Maddox Jolie Project” in honor of the son she adopted from Cambodia — is to create programs for villagers dwelling in the forest, so they can rely less on logging to make a living…

“I am accusing her of violating the agreement under which she agreed to provide funds to CVD,” Mounh Sarath said. “The more than $1 million she has promised has never arrived.”

He said Jolie cut off funding and ended cooperation with his group in December last year without explanation. He and his staff have also been barred from using the project’s facilities, which Jolie’s lawyers have claimed is her private property, he said.

Since he had not received an explanation of such actions, he decided to go public with his complaints, he added.

He said Jolie’s action was unfair since he helped arrange for her to be honored for her aid by being awarded Cambodian citizenship last year.

Jolie’s lawyer, Sam Borana, confirmed that that the actress has stopped providing funds to CVD, and said the project will become an independent non-governmental organization.

He said the controversy was the result of a misunderstanding on the part of Mounh Sarath.

“This is not about violation of the agreement. Ms Angelina Jolie just exercised her right to decide to stop giving the money,” he said.

This sounds like there’s some politics involved and that someone probably made some decisions that she did not agree with. It’s hard to tell what happened, but it seems like the work will still get done, just not by this charity group. If it’s true that they never got an explanation and were kicked out of their offices that’s pretty harsh.

There was a report less than a month ago that most of the charities in Namibia Angelina and Brad had promised funds had still not received them.

I’m just reporting on the news, I don’t make it.

Here are pictures of Angelina and Brad arriving in Pune on 10/29 after a weekend trip. [via]