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 spanning real estate, finance, and utilities,” according to one report that cited Ministry of Commerce records. These include Anco Brothers, one of Cambodia’s leading conglomerates. On its now-defunct website, Anco Brothers describes itself as the “sole distributor” for leading Western brands including British American Tobacco, Evian, and Budweiser Beer.

Kok An is also well known for his involvement in the casino business. In a diplomatic cable in 2007, the U.S. Embassy described Kok An as a “gambling kingpin,” and he now reportedly owns casinos in various parts of the country.

The senator-tycoon has been accused of involvement in online scams for some time, particularly in the Thai border town of Poipet, where he owns a host of properties, including the sprawling Crown Resorts complex. First established in 1999, this has since expanded to include five casinos, where online gambling and scam operations have been documented for years.

In a report last September, the Cyber Scam Monitor described the Crown Resort and its surrounding properties as “the most prominent and apparently untouchable site hosting online [scam] operations in Poipet.” It added that reports of online scamming at Crown properties in Poipet dated back “as far back as 2016” and that “numerous deaths” had occurred at these properties. In a report published last year, the U.K.-based Humanity Research Consultancy named Kok An as being among the “powerful class of Cambodian oligarchs who hold direct ownership stakes in the infrastructure and technology used to perpetuate criminal activity.”

Last July, during the lead-up to the border conflict with Thailand, authorities in Bangkok issued an arrest warrant for Kok An and raided a number of Thai properties linked to his family. Thai investigators accused him of money laundering and involvement in a transnational criminal organization that ran scam operations out of buildings that he owns in Poipet. These included four buildings: the Crown Resorts complex, the HI-SO building, and unnamed 18-storey and 25-storey buildings. Thailand has also issued an arrest warrant for Ly Yong Phat.

For its own part, the Cambodian government has consistently denied providing cover to scam syndicates and has declared a series of well-publicized crackdowns on cyber-fraud operations. Until recently, these appeared half-hearted at best. In a report published last June, the rights group Amnesty International described the Cambodian government’s response as “grossly inadequate” and accused it of being “complicit” in the country’s scamming industry.

However, growing pressure from the U.S. and China has seemingly prompted a more serious action by Phnom Penh. In January, after years of defending him from charges of cybercrime, the Cambodian government extradited Chen Zhi to China, kicking off its most serious campaign against scam centers to date.

Over the past few months, the Cambodian press has been filled with near-daily reports of raids on scamming centers in every corner of the country, and trafficked workers have flooded into the capital Phnom Penh in search of aid and a passage back out of the country. Earlier this month, Cambodia enacted a new law to combat online fraud, with Justice Minister Keut Rith saying that it was intended to enhance the current “cleaning operation” and ensure that scamming centers do not reopen after the crackdown ends.

The Cambodian government is undeniably treating the issue more seriously than at any point in the recent past. This week, authorities arrested Gen. Ouk Heisela, deputy director-general of Immigration, and Maj. Gen. Sor Samnang, deputy commissioner of the Phnom Penh Police, for alleged bribery and money laundering linked to online scam operations – two of the highest-profile arrests so far.

However, given the extent to which the Cambodian government has previously defended both Ly Yong Phat and Kok An from claims of involvement in cybercrime, it is reasonable to assume that accountability will be limited, and subject to tight political constraints.