US sanctions target Cambodia’s ruling elite

The United States has escalated its campaign against Cambodia’s scam economy, directly sanctioning Senator Kok An and signalling that political rank will no longer shield officials from accountability. For Mu Sochua, the exiled opposition politician and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, this marks a turning point: Washington has finally recognised that Cambodia’s ruling elite are not passive victims of cyber‑fraud, but active participants.

In Preah Sihanouk province, fortified high‑rises now serve as digital compounds where tens of thousands of trafficked workers are forced into online scams. The industry is estimated at up to $75 billion — nearly half of Cambodia’s GDP — and cost US citizens more than $20 billion last year. Sochua argues that this “scam‑industrial complex” was born from the collapse of Cambodia’s Chinese‑led property boom, when vacant towers were repurposed into hubs of fraud.

The Hun Manet government pledged to dismantle these compounds by April 2026, but Sochua insists the deadline was little more than a public relations exercise. Raids on small villas and deportations of low‑level workers have left the real enclaves untouched. Special Economic Zones, she says, function as “states within a state”, beyond the reach of local police and protected by national leadership.

Washington’s move against Kok An is a calculated break with past diplomatic caution. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s announcement makes clear that the era of leniency is over. Yet Sochua warns that sanctions alone will not be enough. She calls for Cambodia’s return to the Financial Action Task Force grey list, forcing banks to scrutinise transactions, and for the Global Magnitsky Act to be extended to family members of sanctioned officials.

Denying visas and access to Western institutions, she argues, would generate pressure where it hurts most — on the lifestyles of the elite.

For Mu Sochua, Cambodia’s emergence as a criminal‑industrial state is a warning to the world. Until the gates of the Special Economic Zones are opened to investigators, she believes the regime must be treated as complicit in modern slavery. The US sanctions are a start, but only sustained financial isolation will force genuine change.

-2026-05-17