US lawmakers seek scrutiny of Thai financier Vorapak

US House committee chairmen Brian Mast and John Moolenaar have asked the Trump administration to investigate Thai financier and former deputy finance minister Vorapak Tanyawong and 27 other people and entities for possible sanctions linked to Southeast Asian scam operations.

The September 15 letter, sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, requests a decision within 180 days on whether those named meet the legal threshold for sanctions. Copies were also sent to the US attorney general and homeland security secretary.

Mast chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, while Moolenaar chairs the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.

The letter itself does not impose sanctions, visa restrictions or financial penalties. It is a request for US agencies to investigate and make a legal determination.

Vorapak, who served in Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's first government and was previously a senior figure in Thailand's banking and finance sector, said on September 17 that he had never been involved in scam centres, money laundering, human trafficking, cybercrime or related transnational crime.

"It is not an investigation finding or a ruling that I have committed an offence, and it does not mean I have already been sanctioned by the United States," Vorapak said in a Facebook statement.

Vorapak says he will cooperate

Vorapak said he had contacted the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, to ask how he could submit evidence and supporting documents. He said he was also writing to Mast and Moolenaar seeking an opportunity to state his case and obtain details of the information concerning him.

"I am ready to cooperate fully with any review, and I believe the best way to respond to such serious allegations is through facts, documentary evidence and a process that can be verified," he said.

He also said one Thai defamation case relating to earlier allegations had been accepted by a court, while a preliminary examination in another case had concluded and he was awaiting an order.

The Committee to Protect Journalists previously reported allegations by Whale Hunting linking Vorapak to money allegedly laundered from Cambodian scam centres through Thai financial institutions. Vorapak has denied those claims and filed a defamation suit against the reporter involved.

US lawmakers cite trafficking and fraud concerns

Mast and Moolenaar said Chinese transnational criminal organisations operate industrial-scale scam compounds across Southeast Asia, using cryptocurrency investment fraud known as "pig butchering", romance scams and psychological manipulation.

Their letter estimates that about 400,000 trafficking victims from more than 70 countries are held in regional scam centres. It alleges many were deceived or coerced into travelling, then confined and forced to conduct online fraud under threats of violence, torture and sometimes death.

The lawmakers questioned crackdowns in Myanmar and Cambodia, citing reports of new scam sites along the Thai-Myanmar border and alleging that corruption has helped protect the industry. They also said trafficking survivors who escape compounds may be jailed or deported rather than treated as victims.

Vorapak appears among 28 names submitted for investigation

The September 15 letter lists 26 individuals and two business entities. The names below follow the document’s order and spelling; inclusion in the list does not establish wrongdoing.

• Benjamin Mauerberger

• Chou Bun Eng, permanent vice-chair of Cambodia’s National Committee for Counter Trafficking in Persons, a role identified in March 2026 reporting

• Deng Pibing

• Dy Vichea, deputy chief of Cambodia’s National Police and Hun Sen’s son-in-law

• Edward Lee

• Eugene Tang

• Gabriel Tan

• Honn Sorachna

• Hun To, a Cambodian businessman and Hun Sen’s nephew

• Kuoch Chamrouen, Kandal provincial governor and a former governor of Preah Sihanouk

• Li Xiong

• Long Dimanche, deputy governor of Preah Sihanouk

• Ma Dongli

• Michael Chiam

• Mote Thun

• Neth Savoeun, Cambodia’s deputy prime minister and former national police chief

• Sar Sokha, Cambodia’s interior minister

• Su Zhongkian

• Vorapak Tanyawong, a former senior Thai banking and finance executive

• Wang Liduan

• Yan Borith

• Yan Narong

• Yan Sathya

• Yim Leak, Cambodian government adviser and businessman

• Yu Lingxiong

• Zhong Baojia, also known as Wang Qiang

• Fully Light Group of Companies, LTD

• White Sands Palace Casino, in Cambodia

Picture courtesy of The Nation

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18 September 2026