Cambodia Makes Crackdown on Scam Casinos a Top Priority to Protect Global Reputation

In a statement, the Royal Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia said the reason for designating the fight against scam operators as a top priority was because these were “directly linked to social security, public safety and the nation’s reputation on the international stage.”

It would, therefore, “continue to strictly and carefully implement the Royal Government Command … by maintaining cooperation with the Secretariat of the Ad Hoc Commission for Combating Online Scams and with relevant authorities to conduct operations, inspections and searches without exception at any casino locations.”

In this regard, the government revealed it had last month, thanks to “procedural coordination” from the Prosecution at the Sihanoukville Court of First Instance, the General Secretariat of CGMC, the Sihanoukville Province Unified Command and the National Police General Commissariat conducted a crackdown on online scam operations at Casino Zhong Huawei Golden Sand International Entertainment in Sihanoukville. During the operation, 104 foreign nationals were detained and further investigations conducted which confirmed that the casino was involved in online scam activities.

The casino license of Zhong Huawei (Cambodia) Entertainment Co Ltd was subsequently revoked.

The action comes after global human rights organization Amnesty International recently accused the Cambodian gaming regulator of licensing multiple casino complexes despite direct recent evidence of severe human rights abuses having taken place within their confines, while the U.S. Department of the Treasury last month sanctioned a Cambodian senator as well as 28 individuals and entities in his network for defrauding American citizens via multiple scam compounds he is alleged to control from casinos and other buildings he owns across the country.