WASHINGTON: The US government on Thursday (April 23) imposed sanctions on Kok An (pic), a wealthy Cambodian senator and ally of Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen, and 28 individuals and entities that it said had stolen millions of dollars from US citizens using crypto-romance scams.
Here are some details:
* The US Treasury Department said Kok An used his political connections to protect a network of scam centres and various operators who used the lure of friendship or romantic relationships to persuade vulnerable Americans into transferring their savings in the form of digital assets, promising high returns, only to steal the funds outright.
* Kok An owns numerous companies, including Crown Resorts, and other properties that house scam compounds, Treasury said.
* Treasury said victims of human trafficking reported that they and thousands of others were taken to these compounds and forced to steal money from Americans under threat of violence.
* “Eliminating fraud is a top priority for the Trump administration,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. “Treasury will continue to target fraudsters and scam centres that steal billions of dollars from hardworking Americans, no matter where they operate or how well-connected they are.”
* The action by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control was taken together with the interagency Scam Centre Strike Force, which also announced charges against two individuals who it said were running a scam compound in Myanmar and trying to start another in Cambodia.
* “This is an incredibly aggressive move from a diplomatic standpoint,” said Brett Erickson, managing principal at Obsidian Risk Advisors.
“The Trump administration is viewing this as a national security threat. These scams are wiping out people’s life savings. This is devastating families.”
* The move was announced hours after stablecoin issuer Tether froze over US$344 million in its USDT cryptocurrency, allegedly linked to sanctions evasion, criminal networks or other illicit activity.
It said it worked with OFAC and other US law enforcement agencies to implement the restrictions.
* The strike force also seized a social media messaging app used to recruit human trafficking victims, and 503 fraudulent web domains used to perpetrate cryptocurrency investment fraud, Treasury said.
* The US State Department also offered a reward of up to US$10 million for information leading to the seizure or recovery of scam proceeds related to a separate scam compound in Myanmar that was placed under sanctions last November.
* No comment was available from the Cambodian embassy. – Reuters
