Cambodia decries US sanctions against one of its top tycoons implicated in forced labor

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia on Friday decried newly imposed U.S. sanctions on one of the country’s top tycoons who has been implicated in allegations of forced labor, human trafficking and lucrative online scams.

Cambodia’s foreign ministry expressed “deep regret over the unjust decision” to sanction Ly Yong Phat and suggested that the action could hurt bilateral relations. Ly Yong Phat, one of Cambodia’s richest men, is also a Cambodian senator and a leading member of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party of Prime Minister Hun Manet.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday imposed sanctions on Ly Yong Phat and five of his businesses “for their role in serious human rights abuses related to the treatment of workers subjected to forced labor in online investment scam operations.”

“Victims forced to run virtual currency investment scams and other online schemes are often lured by fraudulent jobs and promises of free housing,” said the statement. “Instead, they find themselves forced to run scam operations for criminal organizations under horrifying working and living conditions.”

Washington’s move, which blocks any of Ly Yong Phat’s assets in the United States and prohibits U.S. entities from doing business with him, reflects mounting concern about cybercrime, including from Southeast Asia and Cambodia in particular.

Cambodia has been the location of cyberscams that include “ pig butchering,” a term that refers to gaining victims’ trust through dating apps or other sites and steering them toward bogus investments. Cryptocurrency is often used in such schemes to make them harder to stop.

Friday’s statement from Cambodia’s foreign ministry claimed the Treasury’s action was “based on unconfirmed reports of forced