The United States Treasury Department has announced a new wave of sanctions targeting nine individuals and 26 companies linked to a Cambodian conglomerate accused of operating large-scale cyber scams and forced labor.
According to the Treasury, criminal groups based in Southeast Asia routinely lure victims with fake job offers in technology and customer service, only to trap them in compounds where their passports are confiscated. They are then coerced through debt bondage, physical threats, and sexual exploitation to defraud strangers online.
A representative for the conglomerate declined to comment on the latest measures, though the company has previously denied the allegations as baseless.
The sanctions center on a key figure recently arrested in Osaka, Japan, who has been described as the group’s second-in-command. The Treasury had previously targeted him under an alias, but the new designations cover all known identities and the companies under his control. He faces asset freezes in both the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.
Others added to the sanctions list include two individuals identified as directors of the conglomerate’s Cambodian entities, both of whom own substantial real estate in Japan. One of them also chairs a Phnom Penh-based bank and previously led a cryptocurrency exchange sanctioned by the U.K. for alleged human rights abuses.
Another sanctioned individual is described as an investor in a scam compound that facilitated major fraud operations, while a Chinese national with an outstanding arrest warrant in his home country is accused of managing online payment gateways for the scams.
A Bangkok-based hotel management company was also designated, whose sole director was already sanctioned by the U.S. last year for links to planned cryptocurrency resorts in East Timor and Palau.
The Treasury noted that such scam operations cost Americans at least $10 billion in 2024, a 66% increase from the previous year. The most common tactic involves tricking victims into fake digital asset investments on websites that appear legitimate but are controlled by scammers.