US Treasury Department accuses Kok An and associates of using political influence to protect network of fraud centres.

The United States Department of the Treasury has announced sanctions against the Cambodian Senator Kok An, accusing the politician of using his influence and connections to protect a network of scam operators.

The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said on Thursday that it would take action against An and 28 individuals and entities in his network, which is accused of enticing US citizens into giving away large amounts of money through fraudulent schemes.

“Using the lure of friendship or romantic relationships, these fraudsters coax vulnerable Americans into transferring their savings in the form of digital assets by promising investment opportunities and high returns, only to steal the funds outright,” the department said in a statement.

Scam centres have proliferated across Southeast Asia since the COVID-19 pandemic in the early 2020s, when entertainment hubs such as casinos struggled to operate amid slumping tourism.

Some shifted to online operations and digital schemes defrauding people around the world.

Human rights experts have also pointed to a trend of scam operations luring workers across international borders and forcing them to work as fraudsters in isolated compounds.

United Nations estimates suggest that as many as 300,000 people could be entangled in the industry across the region, some of them without their consent.

In Thursday’s announcement, the Department of Justice described how some victims are lured to Thailand with the prospect of work, then trafficked across the border to Myanmar or Cambodia.

The US Treasury accused Kok An of operating fraud centres out of casinos and office parks “retrofitted for fraudulent activity”.

Cambodia’s parliament recently passed a law meant to help combat cyberscams in the face of growing pressure to crack down on illicit networks.

Some of the scam enterprises, however, are thought to have connections with powerful figures in politics and business.

US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, however, said there will be no “impunity” for such fraudsters.

“Fraudsters who target Americans from overseas may believe that they cannot be reached,” Pirro said in a statement, pledging that her team “is working to ensure that these criminals cannot operate with impunity, no matter where in the world they reside”.

The US previously announced sanctions in September targeting 20 companies and businesses accused of facilitating scam centres in countries like Cambodia and Myanmar.

“Eliminating fraud is a top priority for the Trump Administration,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement on Thursday.

“Treasury will continue to target fraudsters and scam centers that steal billions of dollars from hardworking Americans, no matter where they operate or how well-connected they are.”