Targeted individuals are close to Cambodian leaders Sanctions have been discussed for months but repeatedly postponed, officials said, as Phnom Penh’s close ties to China strain U.S.-Cambodian relations. are doing
WASHINGTON, Sept 12 (Reuters) – The United States on Thursday arrested Cambodian businessman and ruling party senator Lee Yong Huat on abuse charges related to trafficked workers forced into online fraud centers. Announced sanctions against multiple organizations.
The plan, first reported by Reuters, comes as relations between the US and Cambodia are at a delicate stage. Cambodia is moving ever closer to China, Washington’s strategic rival, despite efforts by the United States to woo new leader Hun Manet, his longtime son. . The powerful Hun Sen.
Lee Yong Huat was appointed as Hun Sen’s personal advisor in 2022.
The sanctions targeted Lee’s conglomerate LYP Group and Au Smaha Resort, according to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
It also announced sanctions against Cambodia-based Garden City Hotel, Koh Kong Resort and Phnom Penh Hotel, all of which are owned or controlled by Lee.
Bradley Smith, the Treasury Department’s acting assistant secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the move “holds accountable those involved in human trafficking and other abuses while targeting countless defenseless individuals, including Americans.” “This was done in order to disrupt the company’s ability to operate its investment fraud scheme.” . ”
Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries have emerged in recent years as hubs for a multibillion-dollar criminal industry that targets victims around the world in cryptocurrency scams and other fraudulent schemes, often linked to Chinese syndicates. It operates out of fortified facilities run by and staffed with trafficked workers.
The Treasury Department said in a statement that scammers use fictitious identities and elaborate stories to build trust and deceive their victims.
In many cases, this involves convincing victims to invest in cryptocurrencies and, in some cases, in over-the-counter foreign exchange schemes.
According to the statement, traffickers force victims to work up to 15 hours a day, and in some cases “resell” victims to other fraudulent businesses or subject them to sex trafficking. It is said that they are doing so.
The report notes that this year’s U.S. State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report highlights human rights violations in Osmaha and Koh Kong, and that official complicity in human trafficking crimes remains widespread, resulting in selective and He noted that law enforcement was often politically motivated.
Americans are the target of many scams. According to the FBI, in the U.S. alone in 2022, victims of pig butchering, new tab creation (a type of long-term scam) and other crypto scams reported losses of $2.6 billion, up from the previous year. It has more than doubled.
According to a Treasury report, Haut Smaha Resort has been under police investigation for more than two years and has been publicly reported for “widespread and systematic serious human rights violations.”
The report said victims reported being lured there with fake job opportunities, having their mobile phones and passports confiscated upon arrival and being forced to commit fraud.
“People who sought help reported being beaten, abused with electric shocks, forced to pay large ransoms, or threatened to be sold to other online fraud rings,” the report said. ”, he said, adding that two cases of suicide victims have been reported. From a building within the resort.
According to the report, local authorities carried out repeated rescue operations, including in October 2022 and March 2024, and rescued a variety of people, including Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Malaysian, Singaporean, Thai and Vietnamese nationals. Victims of various nationalities were released.
The U.S. State Department announced in June that Cambodian government employees were complicit in human trafficking and that some employees owned facilities used by fraudsters.
Spokespeople for the Cambodian government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to calls or messages seeking comment on questions about the sanctions.
The United States and other governments have repeatedly engaged with Cambodia to combat fraud centers.
The U.S. government had been considering sanctions for several months, people briefed on the matter told Reuters. They said the decision was originally scheduled for earlier this year but had been delayed.
The change of leadership last year to West Point-educated Hun Manet was seen by U.S. officials as an opportunity to mend relations with Cambodia, but despite U.S. efforts, relationship is steadily expanding. The Chinese government has sent warships to Cambodia this year to help expand a key naval base.
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Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and Poppy McPherson. Additional reporting from Simon Lewis. Edited by: Shri Navaratnam and Deepa Babington
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