Somaly Mam had received U.S. government funding for some of her early work and wrote a memoir, “The Road of Lost Innocence,” which was a best-seller in France, with a tale of being abused and sold into prostitution as a child, one of several claims that have now been questioned.
Her work has attracted high-profile attention, receiving publicity from journalists such as New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and support from celebrities such as actress Susan Sarandon and Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg. The website of her Somaly Mam Foundation lists as corporate partners cosmetics company Estee Lauder, finance firm Goldman Sachs and Hilton hotels.
A statement issued Wednesday by the foundation’s executive-director, Gina Reiss-Wilchins, said Somaly Mam’s resignation was accepted after the group was presented with the findings of a two-month investigation it had commissioned from a California-based law firm, Goodwin Procter. Details of the findings were not released.