Cambodia's Nationwide Casino Review Uncovers Extensive Ties to Online Fraud Operations

The Cambodian government released findings from its one-year crackdown on online scams that ran from June 2025 through June 2026. Officials presented the report to a cabinet meeting in late July 2026 and detailed results from a complete inspection of every licensed casino in the country. The review covered all 195 licensed facilities and identified 72 of them as participants in online fraud activities. Those findings prompted immediate regulatory responses that included license revocations, suspensions, and natural expirations leading to closures.

Inspection Results and Enforcement Actions

Data from the review showed that authorities revoked 19 casino licenses outright while suspending another 30 licenses for varying periods. An additional 23 casinos stopped operating once their existing licenses reached expiration dates and renewal applications received no approval. The report also documented raids conducted on 737 separate scam centers across multiple provinces, along with coordinated enforcement measures that targeted both physical locations and digital infrastructure used in fraud schemes. Prime Minister Hun Manet characterized the outcomes as a significant advance in ongoing efforts to dismantle organized scam networks operating from within the casino sector.

Inspectors examined financial records, transaction patterns, and operational links between casino floors and online platforms during the nationwide sweep. Many of the 72 implicated casinos maintained direct connections to call centers or server farms that facilitated investment scams, romance fraud, and cryptocurrency theft schemes. Enforcement teams seized equipment and froze accounts tied to these operations while the licensing authority moved forward with disciplinary proceedings against the identified properties.

Broader Context of the Crackdown

The one-year initiative formed part of a larger governmental push that began in mid-2025 to address the growth of online fraud hubs within Cambodia's gaming industry. Regulators coordinated with law enforcement agencies to map out relationships between licensed casinos and unlicensed scam compounds that had proliferated in border regions. The inspection process required every casino to submit detailed documentation on their client bases, payment processors, and third-party partnerships. Facilities that failed to provide complete records or that showed evidence of facilitating fraudulent transactions faced the strictest penalties.

Raids on the 737 scam centers occurred throughout the reporting period and yielded arrests, asset seizures, and the dismantling of numerous command centers. Many of these centers operated in proximity to or in partnership with the casinos later flagged in the inspection. The combined actions reduced the number of active online fraud sites that had previously used casino licenses as cover for their activities. The report noted that remaining licensed casinos now face heightened monitoring requirements designed to prevent similar involvement in future operations.

Regulatory Follow-Up and Industry Adjustments

Following the release of the findings, the gaming authority announced plans to implement stricter vetting procedures for new license applications and to conduct more frequent audits of existing operators. Casinos that received suspensions must demonstrate compliance with new anti-fraud protocols before any reinstatement can occur. Those whose licenses expired without renewal have been removed from the official registry, and their properties face restrictions on reopening under different ownership structures. The Prime Minister's statement emphasized that the actions taken during the June 2025 to June 2026 period represent measurable progress yet require continued vigilance from all regulatory bodies.

Industry observers note that the inspection results have prompted several international gambling companies with Cambodian holdings to review their local partnerships and compliance frameworks. The report itself contains no public URL for the full document, though summaries appeared in official government releases and subsequent coverage by regional gaming publications. One external account of the findings appears in an ASGAM article published on July 28, 2026, which outlines the key statistics and enforcement totals.

Conclusion

The Cambodian government's report on its 2025-2026 online scam crackdown provides a clear record of inspection outcomes across the nation's 195 licensed casinos. With 72 facilities linked to fraud, followed by 19 revocations, 30 suspensions, and 23 closures through license expiration, plus raids on 737 scam centers, the data illustrates the scale of enforcement undertaken during that period. Prime Minister Hun Manet's description of the results as a major step forward aligns with the documented actions taken by regulators and law enforcement. The report sets the stage for ongoing monitoring and policy adjustments within Cambodia's casino sector as authorities work to limit future connections between licensed operations and online fraud networks.