An Amnesty International investigation released on Thursday found that layout plans for a dozen Cambodian casino complexes linked to online scams, human trafficking and torture were approved by the country’s gambling regulator between December 2025 and January, even as the government pledged a nationwide crackdown on the illicit industry.
The rights group said it identified 11 cases where compounds documented in its 2025 report on scam centers were located within casino complexes recognized by the Commercial Gambling Management Commission (CGMC), with an additional case tied to more recent abuse.
Amnesty said its findings were based on casino layout plans submitted to the regulator, cross-checked with satellite imagery, site visits and survivor testimony.
“At a time when the government says it is dismantling the scamming industry, the evidence shows it is simultaneously recognizing the plans for casino properties where abusive scamming compounds are run,” said Montse Ferrer, Amnesty’s co-regional director for East, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
“This contradiction raises urgent questions about whether Cambodian regulators are legitimizing companies linked to grave abuses,” she said in a statement, calling for an explanation, the suspension of casino licenses and an independent investigation.
The sites included Crown casinos in Poipet, Bavet and Chrey Thum, as well as Majestic Two and Majestic Hotel & Casino. The latter’s former chairman, Ly Kuong, who stepped down in December 2025, was arrested a month later and charged with illegal recruitment for exploitation, aggravated fraud, organized crime and money laundering.
Amnesty also said it found fresh evidence of abuse at Crown Bavet Casino based on testimony from Kenyan survivors. The complex is associated with Kok An, a Cambodian tycoon and senator who faces a Thai court-issued arrest warrant. CamboJA News did not receive a response to calls made to numbers listed for Kok An in the Commerce Ministry’s business registry.
Other CGMC-recognized casinos linked to online scams and forced labor by the group include The New Venetian, Casino Kyom (My Casino), Marinan International, Peak Casino, Long Feng Xuan Casino, Huang (or Wang) Chao International and Golden Sea Casino.
Despite the recent approvals, Cambodian authorities say they have shut down around 250 scam sites and more than 90 casinos since July last year.
But Ferrer told CamboJA News that actions such as the CGMC reviewing and approving casino plans linked to human rights abuses suggest the campaign is unlikely to succeed.
“We believe that casinos will continue given the findings we are making today,” she said.
Ferrer added that a major gap in the crackdown is the lack of proper identification of victims of human trafficking and other human rights violations.
“If the Cambodian government conducted a full, independent, and transparent investigation into the human rights abuses documented at these sites, it would identify individuals responsible for these crimes,” she said.
Chuon Sovann, deputy secretary of the Commission for Combating Online Scams, declined to comment on the report.
Rus Phirun, secretary general of the CGMC, also declined to comment and referred a reporter to Chhoeng Chantha, a technical adviser to the regulator, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
