Cambodia’s gambling regulator and the National Police have suspended the licenses of and ordered closed four casinos in Sihanoukville for the crime of concealment and fraud through technology.
The affected casinos, which were shuttered by authorities on Sunday, include two Jinbei-branded casinos operated by Jin Pei Group LLC and two GC-branded casinos operated by G.C. Media LLC. The two groups appear to be linked based on information published by local media outlet The Khmer Times.
According to Lieutenant General Seang Sen, a Deputy Secretary-General of the General Secretariat of Commercial Gambling Management Commission of Cambodia, the suspension of the four large casinos was ordered by the Committee of the regulator after a raid found their operations linked to technology fraud or online fraud schemes.
These raids had formed part of the government’s campaign to crack down on technology fraud – also known as cyber scams. A total of eight casinos have now been closed for similar offences.
The license of a casino in the border town of Bavet, Silver Star Casino, was also suspended over the weekend and 23 people arrested. The Cambodian Commission for Combating Technology Crimes issued a statement on the arrests which read, “After obtaining sufficient evidence, the CGMC has suspended the license of Silver Star Casino, preventing it from continuing its business operations.
“Authorities sent the three alleged masterminds to the Svay Rieng Provincial Court to face legal proceedings and punishment, according to Cambodian law.”
The closures come two weeks after the United States and United Kingdom jointly sanctioned Cambodia’s Prince Group – operator of Sihanoukville’s Jin Bei Casino among others – and froze billions in assets over allegations of large-scale online scams, money laundering, and human trafficking. Jin Bei Casino was allegedly used to facilitate cyber fraud and launder illicit funds through shell companies and cryptocurrencies, the authorities stated at the time.
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