Cambodia Cracks Down on Online Scams: Official List Names Dozens of Suspects, Mostly Foreigners

Phnom Penh, Cambodia,

40 Charged in Sihanoukville Under New Anti-Scam Law Sihanoukville Provincial Court has charged 40 people under Cambodia's new anti-online-scam law, which the National Assembly passed on March 30. Police acted on a tip on April 21 and detained 5 suspects at Sihang Yinmeng Hospital in Sangkat 2. That led them to a house in Ream commune in Kampong Saom town, where they arrested 32 more and seized 18 computers, 72 phones, and other equipment tied to online scam activity. A further three suspects, all Nepali nationals, were charged with attempted online fraud under Article 27 of the Criminal Code combined with the new law's Article 5.

The notice, issued by Ministry of Interior on “ONLINE SCAMS” has listed down following Chinese names:

• LI KUN
• LI SHU HAI
• WANG HONG WEI
• LAI SHENG WAN
• BO LING
• TANG JIAN FU

ZHOU HAI CHUAN

JING XIN YA

SONG DA HUA,

ZHANG SHAO PAN

CHERRY WIN

BIAK CHIN PAR

SHWE SIN HTAY.

SU HAO,

HE WEN JUN

ZHANG YI

HU GAO ZHAO and

Nepali individuals GANESH SHRESTHA, SAGAR THAPA, and BINOD KUMAR GHISING

A National Effort Gains Momentum

Cambodia has faced heavy international criticism for years as a hub for massive scam compounds. Trafficked workers – often Chinese, Vietnamese, or from other Asian countries – are forced into boiler rooms to run romance scams, fake investment schemes, and crypto frauds that have stolen billions of dollars from victims worldwide. Many compounds mix fraud with human trafficking, forced labor, and violence. The Cambodian government has launched a sweeping crackdown. In recent months, authorities have raided compounds, arrested thousands of foreigners, deported hundreds, and passed tough new laws with prison terms up to life for scam bosses. High-profile extraditions to China of alleged kingpins linked to powerful business networks have made headlines.

This latest public notice fits that pattern. It seems designed to alert citizens, businesses, and other agencies to watch for these individuals and to show the world that Cambodia is serious about cleaning house.

Reward Offer of Up to $4 Million for Information Leading to Arrest of Chinese Scam Center Money Launderer

In a separate matter, the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs has announcing a reward offer under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP) of up to $4 million for information leading to the arrest of Daren Li for facilitating the laundering of proceeds for various scam centers in Southeast Asia. Li was convicted and sentenced on money laundering charges in the U.S. Court for the Central District of California but remains a fugitive.

According to court documents, Li, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China and St. Kitts and Nevis who resided at various times in the People’s Republic of China, Cambodia, and the United Arab Emirates, admitted to conspiring with others to launder funds obtained from victims through cryptocurrency scams and related fraud. Scam centers use the services of money launderers who use cryptocurrency to transfer scam proceeds from victims in the United States and to avoid detection.

Li instructed co-conspirators to open U.S. bank accounts on behalf of shell companies and monitored the receipt and execution of interstate and international wire transfers of victim funds. Li admitted that at least $73.6 million in victim funds were directly deposited into bank accounts associated with him and his co-conspirators, including at least $59.8 million from U.S. shell companies that laundered victim proceeds.

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