Cambodia cybercrime crackdown new phase to scrutinise remaining licensed casinos: minister

Cambodia’s effort to stem cybercrime in the country will move to a new phase, scrutinising legitimately-licensed casinos to see if any are a route for laundering scam money. That is according to senior minister Chhay Sinarith in comments to Bloomberg on the sidelines of an anti-crime conference in the country’s capital, Phnom Penh. He was cited saying: “Our next move is that we must take action on the casinos, because some are suspected of involvement in online scams and gambling.” Up to now, as licensed entities, “they can still hide behind this legal shell,” said the minister. “That’s why we must restrict and impose stronger management and inspection at the casino sites.” He added Cambodia must “investigate.. the financial network of the criminals, because most of the time the criminal proceeds are laundered through legitimate business”. He further noted that authorities were actively investigating around 30 subsidiaries of Prince Group – a firm that has been identified by several jurisdictions as linked to scams. Cambodia was also scrutinising offshore assets in jurisdictions including Singapore, the United Stated and the United Kingdom. Earlier this month, Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Manet, said the country was looking to reduce gradually the number of casinos operating in the country and tighten licensing requirements for the sector. The nation still has more than 100 legally licensed casinos in operation, a number the official described as “excessive”, according to a report by the Chinese-language Cambodia-China Times. Earlier this year, Cambodia had ordered the closure of 91 casinos alleged to have been involved in online scam activities.