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Companies with business interests linked, either directly or indirectly, to Cambodia have been scrambling to assess their exposure to the Cambodia-based business empire Prince Group and the financial services conglomerate Huione Group. Both were recently sanctioned by US anti-financial crime agencies for their involvement in abetting scam centres and money laundering. Reputational, operational and legal risks relating to association with these groups and their related parties are high.
The US Department of Justice labeled the group one of "Asia's largest transnational criminal organizations," stating that it had laundered at least USD 4bn in illicit proceeds between 2021 and 2025, including funds for North Korea and TCOs in Southeast Asia.
Subsequent reporting, confirmed by the many reactive cases Control Risks has undertaken in the past few weeks, demonstrates the astonishing reach and spread of the sanctioned parties and their associates, with linkages extending into Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, the UK and The British Virgin Islands, among others.
Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, and other affected countries are taking swift and effective follow-up action. We anticipate a continuation of sanctions, regulatory crackdowns, and enforcement over the next six months, with the US expanding its targeting and Southeast Asian countries likely playing a major follow-up role.
The driver behind the US’s actions – protecting ordinary citizens losing vast sums of money to criminals – implies robust financial and political capital for such crackdowns to intensify. Meanwhile, Singapore is committed to upholding its reputation as a global financial centre built on world-class governance and regulatory standards. Thailand is equally keen to protect its own citizens who have been kidnapped and abused. Looming behind all of this is the implicit threat of US suspension of ongoing trade tariff talks if countries are deemed insufficiently responsive.
It is important for companies to proactively assess possible exposure. Business ties with sanctioned parties can lead to consequences such as reputational damage, regulatory penalties, severed banking relationships and sudden operational shutdown.
Assessing exposure is intentionally challenging and requires seasoned professionals to pierce the veil of opacity and deception. First, those involved in scam centres, money laundering, and other crime syndicates typically rely on shell companies, legitimate companies as fronts, professional nominees, proxy business partners, and corporate structures in low-disclosure jurisdictions. Cambodia’s official government information registries are notoriously and intentionally opaque – one of the reasons Control Risks has long designated Cambodia a HIGH-RISK country for integrity.
In 2016, Cambodia famously removed all shareholding details from the Ministry of Commerce registry after the anti-corruption watchdog Global Witness released an extensive report titled "Hostile Takeover," which exposed the vast business empire and alleged corrupt dealings of then-Prime Minister Hun Sen's family. Those details never returned, and likely never will. Meanwhile, Cambodia’s grip over media outlets has tightened since 2017, limiting the quantity and reliability of information that has been fed into the public domain and large language models.
In recent exposure assessment investigations, Control Risks has combined and synthesized a combination of human intelligence sources, official Cambodian databases, leaked Cambodian corporate records, proprietary company connections, social media mapping software and data analytics to identify current and previous business associates of the parties disclosed by the US agencies.
This approach has vastly expanded the database of potentially exposed parties beyond the officially designated entities, in one project revealing dozens of yet unpublished nominees and business associates.
In our investigations, we further determine the credibility of relevant businesses and individuals and their roles through deeper intelligence gathering, Khmer-language research, and site visits. Finally, we cross-reference all documented names against our clients’ business operations and partners, providing detailed assessments of any areas of exposure, noting the strength of intelligence and the level of confidence underpinning our conclusions and helping the client prioritise the highest-risk linkages.
The scale of scam centre and money laundering operations in Cambodia is a major concern for the country overall. These operations have thrived in a country that theoretically has the power to at least identify and reduce, if not eliminate, the influence of such forces.
Officially, Cambodia's rhetoric on scam centres has been clear. In early 2025, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet signed an order establishing the Ad Hoc Commission, which is responsible for addressing the problem of online scams.
Chaired by Hun Manet himself, the Commission has the power to implement, coordinate, and enforce measures to combat online scam centres and can deploy law enforcement personnel to dismantle illegal centres.
Following the October sanctions, the Commercial Gambling Management Committee (“CGMC”) raided the Silver Star casino in the southeastern province of Bavet and arrested 23 suspected scam centre heads. Previously, in February 2025, Cambodian and Thai police raided an online scam centre in Poipet (western Cambodia), rescuing 215 foreigners, including 109 Thai nationals.
The overall effectiveness of Cambodia’s efforts to root out scam centres and their kingpins for good is likely limited by Cambodia’s poor governance. Reports from various organisations, such as the 2024 US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report, have pointed out the complicity of some officials in these illegal operations.
The mid-February raid exposed this reality after media reports noted that the building housing the scam operation was reportedly owned by a local official in Banteay Meanchey province (where Poipet is located). In addition, Prince Group mastermind Chen Zhi had been awarded the prestigious “Neak Oknha” honourific title by Cambodia's king in 2020 and had served as advisor to both Hun Sen and Hun Manet and Interior Minister Sar Kheng.
Most institutional investors already view Cambodia as “too frontier” due to the country’s poor governance standards and the well-documented close linkages between business and politics. Still, many international companies are drawn to its successes and potential in manufacturing, tourism, agriculture, financial services, energy, and FMCG, among other industries.
If it should become established that these attractive industries are also widely exposed to illicit activities through complicit local businesspeople who have gained extensive influence in the country’s economy and government, investors will have even greater reservations about prioritising Cambodia as a place to do business.
In the meantime, identifying areas of potential exposure to criminal organisations is critical. Contact Control Risks for investigative support at [email protected].