Cambodia reports latest enforcement measures against Prince Group casinos
The government says it is working to protect foreign nationals deceived or trafficked into scam compounds while pursuing those who knowingly joined illegal operations.
Cambodia.- Cambodia has suspended 10 casinos associated with the Prince Group network and withdrawn the licences of 18 others over the past year as part of its crackdown on online scam operations and their financial connections. That’s according to Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith, head of the Secretariat of the Commission for Combating Online Scams (CCOS), who disclosed the measures during a briefing for foreign diplomats and international organisation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Phnom Penh on November 6.
According to Sinarith, the licence revocations involved casinos linked to Prince Group founder Chen Zhi and Li Kuong, whom authorities connected to an online fraud compound in Sihanoukville. In September, the government said it had revoked the licences of 18 casinos and suspended nine others pending investigation.
During the briefing, Sinarith reported that authorities had frozen more than US$300m in bank accounts, alongside movable and immovable assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Those figures cover the nationwide anti-scam operation and were not attributed exclusively to Prince Group.
He said that between July 1, 2025, and October 31, 2026, authorities conducted enforcement operations at 972 locations, prepared 568 cases for court proceedings and indicted 5,032 suspects. They also repatriated 23,760 foreign nationals from 38 nationalities, he said.
Sinarith said the government was working to identify and protect foreign nationals trafficked or deceived into scam compounds and facilitate their return home. He distinguished them from people who voluntarily participated in illegal operations for financial gain, saying the latter would face legal consequences. He added that Cambodia was working with international law enforcement agencies, including the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Interpol, to investigate and dismantle transnational criminal networks.
The briefing came a day after the US announced additional sanctions against four individuals and 41 entities associated with Prince Group. The US Treasury accused the network of involvement in cyber-enabled fraud, money laundering and human trafficking.
