“We have received information that the body has been found and that he has been identified. With all probability it is question of murder,” Karl-Anders Larsson at the Swedish embassy in Phnom Penh told news website DN.se.

The 45-year-old man disappeared from his hotel room in the Cambodian capital on Thursday. His body was found in Kandal province south of the city on Friday.

The man has lived in the south-east Asian country for several years and ran a hotel operation in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, according to the Expressen newspaper.

The man is reported to have met a woman over the internet and on Thursday evening was seen leaving his hotel in her company.

The man’s safe deposit box in his hotel room was later found forced open and police suspect that he was murdered in the course of a well-planned robbery.

Phnom Penh police are investigating the crime and have secured close circuit television material from the hotel, according to the Expressen newspaper.

The Swedish foreign ministry has been informed and the 45-year-old’s next of kin have been contacted.