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Mondulkiri Provincial Court on April 17 charged several foreign nationals for allegedly organizing a criminal group and directing an online scam operation in what appears to be the first case brought under the new anti–online scam law since it came into effect early April.
The charges follow a request by the Indian Embassy for Cambodia to help locate Indian nationals in Mondulkiri. In response, provincial police launched an investigation on April 10 in Mondulkiri Provincial Chinese Commercial City in Sen Monorom city.
The coordinated raid nabbed 310 foreigners of 10 different nationalities suspected of being involved in online scam activities. Authorities also seized a large cache of equipment allegedly used in the operation, including 420 desktop computers and 1,450 mobile phones.
Among those arrested were two Chinese nationals, Chen Binglian, working as a general manager, and Cheng Wen Chong, manager of the Indian and Pakistani team; Thai national Sittichai Saelee, who managed the Thai team; and Myanmar national, Hsu Darli, manager of the Myanmar team. They were charged under Article 5, Paragraph 3 and related provisions of the Law on Anti-Online Scams for online scam activities committed by an organized criminal group, according to a press release issued by the court.
Three unnamed suspects, who fled the scene, were also charged under Article 6, Paragraph 1 of the same Act for organizing and directing an online scam center.
The law stipulates that the detainees face penalties of five to 10 years imprisonment and fine between $125,000 and $250,000 if found guilty.
The court said the online scam network targeted victims in Thailand, the U.S., Vietnam and India through schemes such as fake online shopping platforms, as well as cryptocurrency investment fraud.
“The scam targeted Thai citizens under the guise of selling goods and the U.S. under the guise of investing in crypto,” the court added. “In this online scam, there were three suspects and other syndicates [escaped] who organized and led the online scam compound targeting Vietnam, India, Thailand and the U.S.”
Seav Ngichhoan, spokesperson of the Mondulkiri provincial court, told CamboJA News that after completion of court procedures, the detainees would be sent to prison, while others would be deported to their home countries.
He added that authorities continue to look for the three suspects who escaped. When asked whether the building owner of the Mondulkiri Provincial Chinese Commercial City – allegedly housing scam operations – would face penalties, Ngichhoan said the matter is being investigated by the court.
However, Nathan Paul Southern, operations director of The EyeWitness Project, said the new anti–online scam law does not signal a tougher crackdown, as it has yet to target key figures or officials linked to major scam networks.
“The use of the new anti–online scam law does not necessarily reflect a shift toward stricter enforcement by Cambodian authorities, as the legislation is yet to be used to target key criminal figures or officials linked to the industry,” he said.
In the meantime, he said, the law is “somewhat unclear” and could end up being applied broadly to many individuals without well-defined standards for evidence or proof.
He also raised concerns whether investigations properly consider issues like forced labor or human trafficking and this could lead to large numbers of additional detentions within an “already dangerously” overcrowded prison system.
Earlier, the government said over 48,000 people suspected of being involved in scam operations have been deported since 2023, while more than 250 sites have been shut down along with the arrest of 800 ringleaders since July last year.
As the deadline for the “elimination” of scam centers under the XXL operation approaches, authorities have stepped up crackdowns on suspected networks. On April 12, Phnom Penh authorities raided a suspected online scam operation at the Wyndham Grand Phnom Penh Capital in central Phnom Penh, detaining 311 individuals of five nationalities.
However, an Amnesty International investigation found that layout plans for a dozen Cambodian casino complexes – allegedly linked to online scams, human trafficking, and torture – were approved by the country’s gambling regulator between December 2025 and January this year.
According to Southern, the authorities “likely already knew” the locations of many scam operations, so the “recent actions show a choice to intervene – not a new ability to detect them”.
He still sees it as a positive step that might remove the most obvious scam sites by the end of April but believes that this will not solve the problem as authorities are not going after the main figures behind the industry, including powerful individuals with connections.
“Until this changes, the underlying criminal networks are unlikely to be dismantled,” he said.
