Phnom Penh – A former senior Foreign Ministry official has been arrested in connection with the theft of more than 6,000 visas allegedly used to facilitate online scam operations, Cambodia’s Anti‑Corruption Unit (ACU) confirmed. Tho Samnang, once Director‑General of the General Department of Legal, Consular and Border Affairs, was dismissed from his post in April by Senate President Hun Sen, then acting head of state. His family later reported him missing, but it has now emerged that he was detained by the ACU and taken in for questioning. Senior Minister Om Yentieng, head of the ACU, said Samnang admitted to stealing over 10,000 visa blanks, of which more than 6,000 were illegally issued to foreigners involved in online scams. The remaining 4,000, he claimed, had been destroyed. The visas in question were Type‑C courtesy visas, normally issued free of charge to NGO staff, volunteers or invited delegates, and CEX blanks used to extend them. Investigators believe the stolen documents were diverted to criminal networks running online fraud schemes. Samnang had briefly remained at the ministry as an advisor with director‑general rank after his dismissal, before his arrest. His case has raised alarm over the scale of corruption within official channels and the ease with which sensitive documents can be exploited. ACU spokesperson Soy Chanvichet confirmed the confession but declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing investigation. Authorities are now working to trace the missing visa blanks and assess the extent of their use in scam operations. The arrest underscores Cambodia’s struggle to contain online fraud networks, many of which have been linked to human trafficking and cross‑border crime. For the government, the case is a stark reminder of how corruption at senior levels can directly feed into international criminal activity. -2026-08-21
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