US slaps more sanctions on Cambodia’s alleged scam group affiliates

PHNOM PENH – The United States has imposed sanctions on dozens of companies and individuals linked to an alleged Cambodia-based cyberscam group and a network in Madagascar that targeted Americans.The US Treasury Department announced sanctions on Nov 5 on four people and 41 companies tied to the Prince Group, a Cambodian firm accused of running a billion-dollar scam operation.The South-east Asian country has emerged as a hub for crime syndicates running fake romantic relationship and cryptocurrency investment schemes in which scammers – some willing, others trafficked – defraud internet users around the world.But under pressure from several countries including the United States, Britain and China, Cambodian authorities say they are cracking down on the industry.The four newly sanctioned individuals include Qiu Yong, a senior Prince Group official who allegedly ran multiple companies in the British Virgin Islands that control a network of Hong Kong firms “involved in money lending and other business ventures”, the Treasury said in a statement.Qiu, who has passports from Cambodia, St. Lucia and Turkey, helped Prince Group launder its funds through an array of money-lending services and business ventures like wine companies, it said.‘Safe haven’ for cyberscamsPrince Group’s China-born founder Chen Zhi was extradited by Phnom Penh to China in January, months after the conglomerate was sanctioned by the US and British governments for scamming.The Cambodian authorities have said he is among at least six Prince Group ringleaders arrested, while casinos, buildings and other real estate valued at nearly US$1 billion (S$1.3billion) have been frozen.The Prince Group has previously denied any involvement in cyberscams.The US Treasury also sanctioned Malaysian Chui Kok Wa for his alleged role as the leader of a scam network in the African island nation of Madagascar.The scammers led by Chui exploited cyber-enabled technologies, including cryptocurrencies, “to defraud numerous Americans of over US$400,000 equivalent”, the Treasury said.Cambodian leader Hun Manet told an anti-fraud summit in September that his country would never be a “safe haven” for cyberscams, but analysts say elite protection networks and the industry’s financial and physical infrastructure remain intact.“Cyberscam syndicates continue to steal billions of dollars from American victims,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the Nov 5 statement.He said his department is “committed to dismantling every layer of these organisations – from their leadership to the corporate structures and financial facilitators that enable them to operate with impunity”. AFP