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Amnesty International has linked at least five private security companies to abuses at scam compounds in Cambodia, saying their guards kept trafficked workers locked inside, beat and shocked those who resisted and, at one compound, stood watch while managers raped women.
In a report released Thursday, the rights group also tied senior military and police officers to some of the companies and compounds. It said serving soldiers and police officers were connected to at least 22 of the 86 compounds it has documented.
Amnesty said the companies — Leap Somnang Security, Security Response, ZD Security, Dara Security Service and Best (Cambodia) Security Service, all registered in Cambodia — provided guards to at least 23 scam compounds over several years, in some cases well into a nationwide government crackdown on the industry that began in July 2025.
“For years, survivors of these nightmarish compounds described encountering members of the Cambodian military or police inside. These accounts could not be independently verified — until now,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general.
Amnesty, which has published a series of reports critical of Cambodia’s response to the scam industry, accused authorities of failing to investigate the security companies and the networks connected to the compounds. The industry has generated billions of dollars a year, and a 2023 U.N. report estimated that roughly 100,000 people in Cambodia may have been held and forced to work in scam operations.
Touch Sokhak, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, did not respond to questions about whether the ministry would investigate the five companies and other individuals named in the report. Chhay Kim Khoeun, a spokesperson for the National Police, and Maly Socheata, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, did not respond to requests for comment.
In a written response to Amnesty, the Interior Ministry said authorities had raided 832 scam sites and sent 3,477 suspects to court between July 2025 and August 2026, and that 77 police officers had been disciplined. Amnesty said the ministry did not identify any investigation into the companies or officials named in the report.
The findings draw on the group’s visits to 82 compounds from 2024 to 2026, interviews with 151 survivors, more than 25,000 videos and photos from guards’ social media accounts, satellite imagery and corporate records.
Leap Somnang Security provided guards to at least 15 scam compounds, the most of any company in the report. Amnesty said the company was controlled by Ban Sophat, a colonel in Cambodia’s armed forces who publicly presented himself as its chairman. Three compounds the company guarded were linked to tycoon Ly Kuong, who was arrested in January on charges including organized crime, money laundering and illegal recruitment for exploitation.
Sophat denied holding any ownership, director or management role in the company or taking part in any abuse, saying he served as an adviser to its owner. He acknowledged producing business cards that called him chairman and helping promote the company.
Amnesty also linked Lay Channy, the deputy police chief of Svay Rieng province, to Best Security, saying two of the phone numbers on the company’s sign in the border town of Bavet belonged to him. The group said he had taken part in raids on suspected scam sites. Best Security’s chairman told Amnesty that Lay Channy owns the building the company rents for its branch in the province, put his number on the sign to help local customers, and plays no role in running the company.
The report also found that Brigadier General Tek Bunthoeun, whom it described as a member of the prime minister’s bodyguard unit, appeared to have a direct interest in a development in Banteay Meanchey province that housed a scam compound, on land being developed by his wife’s real estate company. Two survivors told Amnesty a vehicle with military license plates escorted them there, and Amnesty said an apparent serving soldier trained guards at the site. The report did not include a response from Lay Channy or Tek Bunthoeun.
Amnesty said it had also identified 19 other apparent soldiers or police officers at 12 compounds, some of them linked to Leap Somnang, Security Response and Dara Security Service.
The report also traced business ties between two of the companies and figures linked to the scam economy. Amnesty said Security Response had close ties, through shared directors and business dealings, to Panda Commercial Bank and to Huione Group, a Cambodian financial conglomerate that the U.S. Treasury has cut off from the American financial system over alleged money laundering.
Cambodia’s central bank shut down Panda Bank in February, months after a CamboJA News report found overlapping leadership between the bank and Huione Pay, Huione Group’s payments arm. The central bank said it revoked the license because the bank’s financial condition had deteriorated.
Amnesty also linked ZD Security, formerly BIC Security, to ZhengHeng Group, which Britain sanctioned in 2023 over forced labor at its Long Bay development, a site Amnesty said ZD Security guarded. ZhengHeng’s chairman, Deng Pibing, chaired the security company’s board until October 2023, according to the report. ZhengHeng has denied involvement in the alleged abuses.
Yim Leak, a son of former Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhayly, was also once a director of the security company. His lawyers said he had no involvement in the abuses, and Amnesty said it made no finding on his personal responsibility.
A Thai court issued arrest warrants Tuesday for Leak and six others accused of laundering proceeds from Southeast Asian scam syndicates, and Thai authorities said they would seize more than $1 billion in assets from the group. Leak denies the charges.
Security Response denied the allegations, saying it operated lawfully as a registered security services provider. Best Security said its records showed no history of providing guards at the compound Amnesty linked it to and suggested its uniforms may have been copied. ZD Security did not respond to Amnesty.
“Accountability is essential for the victims and survivors of serious human rights abuses,” the report stated. It called on Cambodia to suspend the licenses of security companies credibly implicated in abuses and to investigate military and police personnel suspected of involvement.
This story has been updated to include comment from Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard and to note that a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense did not respond to a request for comment.
