Cambodia’s former prime minister and current Senate president, Hun Sen, has called for a crackdown on public officials linked to online scam operations, including illegal gambling activities, urging authorities not only to arrest fraud suspects but also to prosecute and seize the assets of any civil servants found to be involved.
In a message issued on Sunday, Mr Hun (pictured in a file photo) – the country’s longest-serving head of government and father of current prime minister Hun Manet – argued that efforts to dismantle online scam syndicates would fail unless they also tackled corruption and official complicity.
“Cracking down on online scams must happen alongside penalising implicated officials and dismissing those who defy orders,” he said, according to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
Mr Hun also warned that provincial governors, military police commanders and police chiefs who failed to enforce government directives should be removed from office.
“You will not succeed by only cracking down on online scammers without targeting complicit officials and those who fail to execute orders,” he said.
The remarks come as Cambodia reportedly intensifies efforts to dismantle online fraud networks that have proliferated across parts of the country in recent years. According to a government statement cited by Xinhua, Cambodian authorities raided more than 250 online scam centres between July 2025 and mid-April 2026, including 91 casinos allegedly used to facilitate fraudulent operations.
During the same period, authorities completed the deportation of 13,039 foreign nationals linked to online scam activities.
Last month, Cambodia enacted a new law aimed at combatting online fraud, introducing penalties of up to 30 years’ imprisonment or life sentences for those found to be leading scam syndicates.
As part of the intensified campaign, authorities recently announced the closure of a casino in Poipet, in Banteay Meanchey province, following allegations that it had been used to support online scam operations, local newspaper the Khmer Times reported on Monday.
The move followed an inspection on May 7 by the General Secretariat of the Commercial Gambling Management Commission of Cambodia, working alongside the National Police and the Unified Command of the Banteay Meanchey Provincial Administration. Investigators examined the KMH Paradise Tower Casino and Hotel in O’Chrov district after receiving reports linking the premises to online fraud, torture and the illegal possession of weapons.
According to the Khmer Times, authorities detained seven suspects, seized a substantial quantity of electronic equipment and revoked the casino’s operating licence.
