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Cambodian authorities said they are investigating online-scam compounds connected to sanctioned tycoons Ly Yong Phat and Kok An, following international pressure to dismantle industrial-scale fraud and trafficking operations. The disclosure came at an anti-online-scam conference in Phnom Penh, where Cambodia reported investigating more than 830 suspected sites, dismantling 86 major compounds, and deporting more than 20,000 foreign suspects since July 2025. Authorities also opened the former No. 8 Park compound in Prey Veng to journalists after a February raid reportedly informed by Chinese and U.S. law-enforcement intelligence and survivor accounts.
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Ly Yong Phat, L.Y.P. Group, O-Smach Resort, and associated hotels in 2024 over forced labor supporting cryptocurrency and confidence scams. Treasury reported allegations that trafficking victims had passports confiscated and were compelled to defraud victims under threats of violence, beatings, electric shocks, ransom demands, and other abuse. Critics and U.S. lawmakers have urged scrutiny of the financial and political protection networks behind Cambodia's scam economy, questioning whether investigations will reach influential owners and officials rather than only foreign operators and lower-level personnel.
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During Cambodia's International Conference on Combating Online Scams, Chhay Sinarith said authorities were investigating scam-linked compounds associated with sanctioned tycoons Ly Yong Phat and Kok An, including possible complicity by people connected to the sites.
Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith said that large-scale scam activity was under control and that no online-scam compounds remained in Cambodia.
Cambodia launched an anti-scam campaign amid international pressure and established an ad hoc Commission for Combating Online Scams, enacted a cyberfraud law, and began raids nationwide.
OFAC sanctioned Cambodian senator Ly Yong Phat, L.Y.P. Group, O-Smach Resort, and several Ly-owned hotels under Executive Order 13818 for serious human-rights abuses involving forced labor at online scam centers.
The U.S. State Department published its annual Trafficking in Persons Report, highlighting trafficking abuses in Cambodia, particularly in O'Smach and Koh Kong, and stating that official complicity remained widespread and endemic.
Local authorities conducted another rescue operation at O-Smach Resort, freeing trafficking victims from the site. Treasury later described the resort as the subject of police investigations and public reporting over systemic abuses from 2022 through 2024.
Construction began on No. 8 Park, also known as the Meun Chey Commercial Center, in Prey Veng province. The eventual 120-hectare complex was capable of housing roughly 20,000 people.
Local authorities conducted a rescue mission at O-Smach Resort, freeing victims who had been forced into scam operations. The victims included nationals of China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Cambodian authorities granted 39 domestic and international media organizations access to the former No. 8 Park compound. Journalists were shown rooms staged as foreign law-enforcement offices, including one impersonating Singapore Police Force commercial-affairs personnel.
Cambodian authorities arrested and extradited Prince Group chairman Chen Zhi to China following increased U.S. and Chinese pressure, according to the report.
The United States and United Kingdom sanctioned Prince Group as a criminal enterprise built on forced labor and deception. The measures targeted 146 individuals and entities, including chairman Chen Zhi.
The U.S. Treasury added Cambodian businessman and senator Kok An to its Specially Designated Nationals list, alleging he used political connections to protect scam operations that defrauded U.S. victims.
Cambodian authorities raided the No. 8 Park compound using information from China's Ministry of Public Security, the FBI, and people who escaped the facility.
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Authorities and policy groups are intensifying efforts against **transnational online scam operations** centered in Southeast Asia, particularly Cambodia, where criminal networks have been linked to fraud compounds, human trafficking, and abuse of workers. Reporting highlights recent enforcement actions including Cambodia's extradition of **Chen Zhi** to China, a new U.S. executive order targeting cyber-enabled fraud, and a Thai-led operation with international partners and **Meta** that removed **150,000** fake profiles and arrested **21** suspects tied to scam activity. The broader picture is that scam syndicates are adapting quickly, shifting locations, fragmenting into smaller cells, and exploiting gaps between law enforcement, regulators, and private-sector platforms. On-the-ground reporting from Cambodia describes the human cost inside alleged scam compounds, including forced labor, torture, and coercion of workers recruited under false pretenses. One former guard said he was ordered to use electric shocks and beat Chinese workers inside a heavily secured compound on Bokor Mountain, even as publicized crackdowns were underway elsewhere. That account reinforces concerns that abrupt enforcement alone can displace operations while leaving trafficked workers vulnerable and limiting intelligence collection on how the scam ecosystem functions. A separate report on fake shipment-tracking phishing in the Middle East and Africa is **not** part of the same event, as it covers a different scam trend and geography rather than the Cambodia-centered scam-compound crackdown.
Jun 29, 2026
The United States imposed a new round of sanctions on Cambodia’s **Prince Group** network, targeting nine individuals and 26 companies over alleged involvement in cyber scams, forced labor, human trafficking, and human rights abuses tied to scam compounds in Southeast Asia. Treasury identified **Hu Xiaowei**, described as Prince Group’s second-in-command, along with figures including **Chen Bo**, **Brendon Luo**, **Qiu Wei Ren**, and **Fang Zhizhen**, and entities such as **CCU Commercial Bank PLC** and **White Horse Hotel Management Group**. U.S. officials said the operations lured workers with fake job offers, confiscated passports, and coerced victims through debt bondage, violence, and threats into running online fraud schemes, including digital-asset investment scams that contributed to at least **$10 billion** in losses to Americans in 2024. The Justice Department also seized a cloud computing account used as backend infrastructure by subsidiaries of Cambodia-based **Huione Group**, which authorities described as a major criminal marketplace and laundering hub linked to scam centers and cyber-enabled theft. Officials said the infrastructure supported **Huione Guarantee** or **Haowang Guarantee**, which allegedly facilitated money laundering, stolen-data sales, malware-enabled theft, cryptocurrency escrow services, and other criminal activity. The enforcement action came as Japanese police arrested Hu Xiaowei in Osaka on suspicion of filing a fraudulent address change while living under the Cypriot identity **"Hu Shi"** and seeking permanent residency, adding to mounting international pressure on Prince Group and associated networks, which have denied the allegations and said their businesses are legitimate.
Jun 29, 2026
Cambodian authorities shut down **190 online scam centers** as part of an intensified national crackdown on transnational fraud operations, according to government statements cited by Reuters. The enforcement action reportedly included the arrest of **173 senior figures** and the deportation of roughly **11,000 foreign nationals**, reflecting the scale and international composition of the scam-compound ecosystem operating in the country. The reporting was published as part of an ISMG “breach roundup” that also briefly noted other, separate security developments (including the European Parliament disabling AI tools on lawmakers’ devices, a *Notepad++* updater supply-chain exposure being patched, an Apple iOS zero-day fix, and emergency remediation for an actively exploited **BeyondTrust** RCE, among others). Those items were presented as additional headlines rather than as part of the Cambodia enforcement action.
Jun 29, 2026