Cambodia says US sanctions against tycoon unjust, politically motivated

Cambodia says US sanctions against tycoon unjust, politically motivated

By Poppy McPherson

Cambodia's foreign ministry on Friday expressed deep regret over a U.S. decision to sanction a local tycoon and senator over alleged trafficking of people forced to work in scam centres, calling it politically motivated.

The U.S. plan to impose sanctions was first reported by Reuters on Thursday and comes at a delicate phase in relations, as Cambodia moves ever closer to Washington's strategic rival China despite U.S efforts to woo its new leader Hun Manet, the son of former strongman premier Hun Sen.

The foreign ministry said in a statement the "imposition of such unilateral sanctions undermines the respect for international law and basic norms governing interstate relations, in particular the principles of sovereign equality and non-interference".

The targeted tycoon, Ly Yong Phat, was appointed a personal adviser in 2022 to Hun Sen, who was prime minister for nearly four decades and is still active in politics as president of the Senate.

The sanctions targeted his L.Y.P Group Co. conglomerate and a hotel, O-Smach Resort. The U.S Treasure Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control said it was also sanctioning Cambodia-based Garden City Hotel, Koh Kong Resort, and Phnom Penh Hotel for being owned or controlled by Ly.

L.Y.P Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Bradley Smith, the Treasury's acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, had said the move was made to "hold accountable those involved in human trafficking and other abuses, while also disrupting their ability to operate investment fraud schemes that target countless unsuspecting individuals, including Americans."

Cambodia and other countries in Southeast Asia have emerged in recent years as the epicentre of a multibillion-dollar criminal industry targeting victims across the world with fraudulent crypto and other schemes, often operating from fortified compounds run by Chinese syndicates and staffed by trafficked workers.

Jacob Sims, a Southeast Asia-based analyst specialised in transnational crime and human rights issues, said that the sanctions sent a message from the U.S government that forced scamming had risen to "a significant national security concern".