US Government Sanctions Cambodian Senator Kok An For Involvement in Online Scams |
ASEAN Beat | Security | Southeast Asia
US Government Sanctions Cambodian Senator Kok An For Involvement in Online Scams
The announcement was Washington’s latest effort to combat Southeast Asia’s multibillion-dollar online scamming industry.
The seal on the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. the headquarters of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The U.S. government yesterday imposed sanctions on the prominent Cambodian tycoon and senator Kok An, as well as 28 other individuals and entities, for allegedly running a network of online scam operations.
In a statement, the U.S. Treasury Department said that Kok An, a close ally of former Prime Minister Hun Sen, used his “political connections” to protect a network of scam operations that have “stolen millions of dollars from U.S. victims” through “digital asset investment fraud and other scams.” Among the other sanctioned entities are Kok An’s hospitality company Crown Resorts, whose properties have allegedly been used to house scam operations, and his business conglomerate Anco Brothers Co Ltd.
“Eliminating fraud is a top priority for the Trump administration,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement. “Treasury will continue to target fraudsters and scam centers that steal billions of dollars from hardworking Americans, no matter where they operate or how well-connected they are.”
The action by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control involved a number of other U.S. agencies, including the interagency Scam Centre Strike Force, which was established by the Trump administration in November to “secure America against Southeast Asian cryptocurrency-related fraud and scams.”
The Strike Force also announced charges against two individuals who it said were running a scam compound in Myanmar and trying to start another in Cambodia, the statement said. It also seized messaging app “used to recruit human trafficking victims to a scam compound in Cambodia,” and 503 fraudulent web domains “used to perpetuate cryptocurrency investment fraud.”
These coordinated sanctions were the latest efforts by Washington to disrupt Southeast Asia-based scamming operations, which are run predominantly by Chinese criminal syndicates and rely on a huge corps of trafficked workers from across the globe. The U.S. government has previously estimated that such scams cost U.S. citizens at least $10 billion in 2024.
Cambodia has become a key node in this toxic industry, with a host of credible reports suggesting that government officials and prominent businesspeople have abetted or provided cover to scamming syndicates, allegations that the Cambodian government have denied.
Treasury alleged that Kok An’s firm Crown Resorts “owns casinos, resorts, and other buildings in Poipet, Sihanoukville, Bavet, and other Cambodian cities” that have been converted into scam compounds. It alleged that he collects rental income from the occupants of these properties and “also provides services and employees to the compounds, including uniformed security guards,” through his conglomerate Anco Brothers. Anco Brothers “also holds the license for the casinos operating on the properties,” Treasury claims.
Kok An is just the latest prominent Cambodian businessperson to be sanctioned by the U.S. government for their involvement in cyber scams. In October, Treasury announced sanctions on 146 individuals and entities connected to Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group, including its 38-year-old chairman Chen Zhi, a former cabinet-level advisor to Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father, Hun Sen. Treasury accused Chen of running a “transnational criminal network” that engaged in cyberfraud, human trafficking, and money laundering.
The U.S. and U.K. have also previously imposed sanctions on Ly Yong Phat, another prominent tycoon who also serves as a senator for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), over his alleged involvement in forced labor, human trafficking, and online scams.
Kok An, who was born in 1954 to an ethnic Chinese family in Koh Kong province on the Thai border, is a longtime ally of Hun Sen and a financial buttress of the CPP. In addition to serving as a senator for the CPP since 2006, he “controls at least 11 companies........