US sanctions Cambodian tycoon over ‘scam compounds’ and trafficking network

A major figure in Cambodia’s ruling party and business sector has been sanctioned by the U.S. for allegedly controlling “scam compounds throughout the country” alongside 28 other individuals and entities in his network, including two banks.

Kok An, a senator for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and advisor to former Prime Minister Hun Sen, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department on April 23, in a suite of penalties targeting Cambodian citizens and companies.

The Treasury Department alleged that Kok An owns casinos, resorts, and other buildings across Cambodia that were used for scam operations. Many of the thousands of people working on the fraud schemes were held against their will, according to the department.

“Using the lure of friendship or romantic relationships, these fraudsters coax vulnerable Americans into transferring their savings in the form of digital assets by promising investment opportunities and high returns, only to steal the funds outright,” the department said in a statement.

“In some cases, individuals perpetrating these scams are themselves victims of human trafficking and are forced to commit unlawful acts under threat of violence.”

Treasury alleged that Kok An provided services and employees at Cambodian scam compounds, including uniformed security guards, through Anco Brothers Co Ltd., his business conglomerate, which also holds the license for the casinos operating on the properties.

Nearly every major scam compound in Cambodia is connected to casinos, which launder the illicit proceeds, Treasury said.

Kok An did not respond to phone calls and requests for comment sent to his social media accounts. A person who answered the phone at Anco Brothers’ head office in Phnom Penh declined to comment.

Cambodian corporate records show that Kok An ceased being Anco Brothers’ chairman in January.

Cambodia has become a magnet for Asian organized crime syndicates under the rule of the Hun family. Hun Sen served as prime minister of Cambodia from 1985 until 2023, when he was replaced by his son, Hun Manet.

The government launched a major crackdown on scam operations last year, which Hun Manet said would be completed this month.

Cambodian authorities raided 200 scam centers in March, and repatriated nearly 10,000 foreign workers. They also launched 79 legal cases involving almost 700 fraud syndicate ringleaders and their associates, according to the Ministry of Interior.

However, Seng Vanly, advocacy program director for the Australia-based Khmer Democracy Organisation, told OCCRP the government has not addressed the key role its citizens play in industrial-scale fraud operations.

Kok An’s sanctioning “shatters the government’s frequent defense that criminal operations are merely the work of isolated foreign syndicates acting without local knowledge,” Seng Vanly said.

“The Cambodian government must move beyond superficial raids and scripted press releases that only target low-level workers,” he said. “The administration of Hun Manet needs to immediately strip Kok An of his parliamentary immunity and initiate a transparent, independent criminal investigation.”

A spokesman for Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior, Touch Sokhak, did not answer questions about possible action against Kok An.

“The ministry has been and continues to investigate and crack down on technology-based fraud in general, in line with the Royal Government’s policy, without targeting any specific individual, and in accordance with the principle of confidential investigations as required by law,” Touch Sokhak said.

Rithy Raksmei, a politically-connected business figure and alleged associate of Kok An, was also sanctioned by the Treasury Department, along with several of his companies.

Reporters were unable to obtain comment from Raksmei before publication, and no one answered a phone number listed for him in Cambodian corporate documents.

The Treasury Department said Rithy Raksmei “has used his political connections to expand his business holdings, build more casinos, and avoid legal consequences for his provision of space to criminals for scams and human trafficking.”