Overview
- The National Assembly passed the bill Friday, setting prison terms of two to five years and fines up to $125,000 for basic online scam offenses.
- The law raises penalties to as much as 10 years for scams run by gangs or targeting many victims, and it introduces offenses for money laundering, data harvesting, and recruiter roles.
- Ringleaders tied to trafficking, detention, or torture face up to 20 years in prison, and bosses could receive life sentences if their operations cause deaths.
- The measure now awaits the king’s signature after clearing both chambers, in what Justice Minister Keut Rith called a push to ensure scam centers do not return.
- The vote followed UK sanctions on a major Cambodia-based fraud hub and Cambodia’s recent extraditions of Li Xiong and tycoon Chen Zhi to China, as UN experts cite industrial-scale fraud and forced labor that has trapped large numbers of workers.