Despite the government of Cambodia repeatedly proclaiming that it is dismantling the cybercrime networks operating in its territory, a recent report by Amnesty International contradicts this official narrative. According to the organization, at least twelve casinos with licenses granted by the Cambodian state itself are directly linked to digital scam centers where serious human rights violations have been committed.
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The report, recently published, is based on official documents from the Cambodian Commercial Gambling Management Commission (CGMC) and testimonies from survivors of these complexes. The findings point to a systematic pattern: the owners of these casinos control at least twelve different establishments where researchers have documented acts of torture, forced labor, child labor, and human trafficking.
What the Amnesty International report says about Cambodian casinos
The investigation establishes a direct connection between officially licensed properties and the scam centers operating within or in close connection with them. “The findings corroborate the testimony of survivors from the complexes, who described being on the casino premises while being confined and mistreated,” the document states.
Among the establishments identified are three casinos that reportedly belong to the Sino-Cambodian businessman and politician Kok An, described in regional media as a figure close to the former prime minister and current president of the Senate, Hun Sen. Kok An heads the Anco Brothers Co Ltd conglomerate, based in Phnom Penh.
The “pig butchering” scams and the million-dollar digital fraud business
The context in which these allegations are framed is the rise of so-called “pig butchering” scams, a form of online fraud that combines social engineering with fake cryptocurrency investments. Scammers build bonds of trust with their victims over weeks or months, usually through messaging apps or social media, to then persuade them to invest in fraudulent platforms.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that this type of fraud moves around $40,000 million a year globally. The same agency recently congratulated Cambodia for intensifying its actions against cybercrime, which contrasts with the findings of the Amnesty International report.
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The Cambodian government’s measures and their contradictions
Since 2025, Cambodia has reported thousands of arrests related to cybercrime networks. Between January and February of that year, authorities closed 190 scam centers across the country, including 44 casinos allegedly involved in fraudulent activities. Additionally, the CGMC revoked the licenses of four casinos linked to Prince Group Holdings, identified as one of the world’s largest online fraud operators.
At its peak, Prince Group’s operations were estimated to generate approximately $30 million daily. In January, Cambodian authorities arrested Chen Zhi, the company’s director, and deported him to China, where he faces charges of fraud, money laundering, human trafficking, and torture.
The CGMC defended these actions as proof of its commitment to “strengthening the regulation of the commercial gambling sector and ensuring that operations are carried out legally.”
What this situation implies for the region
The Amnesty International report adds international pressure on Cambodia at a time when Southeast Asian countries face increasing scrutiny for their role in the global cybercrime ecosystem. The existence of officially licensed casinos linked to scam operations suggests that the problem is not limited to isolated actors, but involves deeper institutional and economic structures.
For the victims of these networks, many of them recruited with false promises of employment and then held against their will, the situation remains critical as long as government responses remain incomplete or selective.
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