Overview
- Parliament, which passed the measure Friday, set a new legal framework to dismantle scam centers as part of a nationwide “cleaning operation,” with the bill now headed to the king for final signature.
- The law sets prison terms of two to five years and fines up to $125,000 for online scams, rising to 10 years and $250,000 for gang-run or large-scale schemes.
- Some outlets reported far tougher maximums for bosses linked to trafficking, torture, or deaths, including 20-year terms or life in prison for the most severe cases.
- Foreign pressure has intensified, with Britain imposing sanctions Thursday on operators of a major fraud complex and Cambodia extraditing Li Xiong this week after January’s removal of tycoon Chen Zhi to China.
- UN agencies describe a vast industry that coerces workers and pulls in tens of billions of dollars, and officials who pledged to close all centers by the end of April face analyst warnings that the networks will adapt rather than vanish.