Inside Cambodia’s power nexus: a global hub for scammers and money laundering

Thai security analysts and knowledgeable sources have noted since the early stages of the Thai-Cambodian border tensions that Cambodia’s aggressive push to challenge Thailand’s sovereignty and claim four disputed areas — accompanied by its apparent campaign to take the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) — is, in reality, a tactic to divert public attention from Cambodia’s escalating domestic political crisis.

The administration of Prime Minister Hun Manet is currently grappling with several serious internal challenges:

A severe economic downturn is impacting the Cambodian public on a wide scale.

A lack of popular legitimacy, as many citizens view the current leadership as the result of dynastic succession rather than democratic choice, with Hun Manet inheriting power from his father, Hun Sen, and other examples such as Tea Seiha succeeding Tea Banh.

The country’s growing reputation as a hub for grey-zone activities, including transnational crime, call centre scams, and cyber fraud networks.

Many of these criminal operations are believed to be rooted in government-granted concessions to so-called “grey Chinese capital,” especially in areas like Sihanoukville, a special economic zone that later collapsed under criminal influence.

Key figures within the government and the ruling elite are allegedly connected to these illegal enterprises themselves.

• Large sums of money were acquired through concessions granted to grey capital groups.
• Ongoing income through weekly or monthly cuts from illegal businesses, particularly underground casinos, scam networks, and online fraud operations.
• A systematic money laundering network supports these activities at multiple levels.

At the very top of Cambodia’s suspected illicit financial network sits Huione Group, a financial conglomerate notorious for its operations in the black market.

The group has gained a reputation for handling dark web financial transactions, cryptocurrency exchanges, and trading data harvested through online scams.

It also offers extensive money laundering services, prompting the National Bank of Cambodia to revoke its banking licence.

Huione Group is believed to be closely linked to Cambodia’s top political powerbrokers, making it a central hub in the country’s money laundering ecosystem.

Its operations are reportedly run with the help of automated bots that manage financial flows, and the group oversees a range of scam-related activities through a sophisticated digital infrastructure.

One level below this is a powerful Chinese business network, fronted by Prince Holding Group, led by “Mr Qin,” a key supporter of Cambodia’s ruling party. Prince Group is a major investor in the prominent Jin Bei Casino, one of Cambodia’s largest casino enterprises.

Meanwhile, a sprawling network of online scam platforms has emerged alongside these operations.

This includes fake gambling sites, investment fraud schemes, and impersonation-based scams, operated with the help of North Korean and Cambodian hacker groups.

These networks target victims globally and funnel illicit gains through well-established laundering systems, with some of the proceeds allegedly reaching Cambodian political elites.

In parallel, massive investment groups have been granted exclusive rights to develop Cambodia’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

One of the most notable is LYP Group (Ly Yong Phat Group), which received a concession to develop the Koh Kong SEZ.

The company came under scrutiny when Thai MP Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn highlighted reports that several buildings within the zone were being used for cyber scam operations.

These financial and corporate networks are believed to have strong ties to Cambodian politicians at all levels, including ruling party MPs, senators, and even ministers.