The United States, United Kingdom, and Canada have imposed coordinated sanctions against 14 individuals and entities for their involvement in Southeast Asia’s online scamming industry, including some figures linked to regional casinos.
A report by The Diplomat indicated that the UK government issued sanctions targeting nine individuals and five entities for their involvement in human trafficking connected to online “scam farms” in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.
The 14 individuals and entities included three prominent individuals connected to Shwe Kokko, a development in Myanmar’s Karen State near the border from Mae Sot, Thailand. the development was said to have initially focused on casinos and online gambling, but has since then diversified into telecom scams.
The sanctions include, for example, Zhao Wei, an alleged Chinese gangster-tycoon who presides over the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in northwest Laos, and She Zhijiang, the head of the Hong Kong-registered Yatai International Holding Group, which is developing Shwe Kokko.
The remaining sanctions were imposed against two individuals and five entities (mostly hotels and casinos) alleged to be involved with scamming compounds in Cambodia, mostly in the coastal city of Sihanoukville and Bavet at the border crossing between Cambodia and Vietnam.
Authorities in Myanmar and Laos, prompted by pressure from the Chinese government, have recently carried out a crackdown on scam operations operating in its borders and targeting Chinese residents.
Senior officials from ASEAN, China and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have also recently agreed to address transnational organized crime and trafficking in persons associated with casinos and scams.
