Cambodian police and military officers worked as private security guards in scam compounds where thousands of people were forced to labour in the online fraud industry. That is according to a report published on Tuesday by Amnesty International.
Agnès Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International, spoke about the findings. She said survivors had for years described encountering members of the Cambodian military or police inside these compounds, but those accounts could not be verified until now.
The investigation based its findings on 151 survivor interviews, visits to 82 scam compounds, and social media videos from dozens of guard accounts showing personnel in company uniform. The research linked illicit operations with five well-connected private security companies.
Callamard stated that the findings begin to expose long-suspected links between Cambodia’s billion-dollar criminal scamming networks and politically connected figures who have largely remained beyond scrutiny. She added that security companies controlled compound exits, hunted down people who escaped, and enforced compliance through fear and violence.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked into Southeast Asia from across the globe, according to the United Nations. Victims are often lured by the promise of legitimate office employment before being forced to carry out online scams targeting people worldwide.
These operations include romance fraud, known as pig butchering, where criminals build fake relationships with victims before stealing their money. The Amnesty report, titled Official Business, alleged that a firm named Leap Somnang held the largest footprint and linked to at least 15 compounds across eight provinces. Twelve survivors identified the company’s guards, uniforms, or logo.
The report alleged that Leap Somnang is believed to be controlled by Ban Sophat, who served publicly as its chair while also holding the rank of colonel in the armed forces. Amnesty provided photographs that it claimed showed him alongside Leap Somnang guards at two scamming compounds.
In response to the allegations, Ban Sophat stated that his appearance in a photograph taken at a particular location does not mean he had knowledge of or involvement in activities conducted there. Amnesty stated it identified more than 20 members of the military and police who were seen maintaining an active presence at the compounds.
Annual losses from the scam industry are estimated at about 100 billion dollars, an amount that outstrips the gross domestic product of several regional countries. This has increased international pressure on nations such as Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar to crack down on the networks, though some parts of the industry are reportedly shifting to South Asia.
Cambodia launched its largest-ever crackdown on scam operations in July 2025, with authorities claiming to have shut down hundreds of centres. Amnesty noted that the industry in the country is now dormant, but Callamard warned that the infrastructure of impunity has not been dismantled.
Authorities have sent 3,477 suspects to court, citing a policy of no tolerance, no exemption, and no retreat to ensure the country does not become a haven for transnational criminal networks. Amnesty stated it did not receive a response from Leap Somnang.
