BANGKOK: The March 2024 agreement shows that Royal Hill Resort and Casino leased three buildings inside its O’Smach complex to a Chinese national for two years at US$200,000 a month.
The tenant’s name was withheld because his identity and alleged role in the criminal activity could not be independently confirmed.
The buildings stood only tens of metres from the Royal Hill casino and were connected to the resort entrance by a paved road.
Inside were offices, dormitories, soundproof booths and rooms staged to resemble foreign police stations and bank branches — sets allegedly used to deceive victims in impersonation scams.
Evidence collected during visits to the site included scripts targeting Australians, handwritten records of calls and rooms designed to imitate institutions including a Singapore police station and a Vietnamese bank.
Australian federal police have linked the operation to losses of nearly US$3 million among victims in the country.
The lease was signed by the Chinese tenant and Seng Chanthy, who was then an employee of Royal Hill.
It listed the dimensions of two buildings and described a third as containing 252 rooms. An architect who examined satellite images found that three structures inside the fenced compound matched the measurements in the contract.
The monthly rental figure was unusually high for the remote border town.
A similarly sized mixed-use building in an affluent area of Phnom Penh was being advertised for US$25,000 a month — one-eighth of the Royal Hill rate.
However, investigators found no evidence that Lim Heng Group was directly involved in the fraud or trafficking conducted inside the leased buildings.
Royal Hill did not respond to telephone calls or emails seeking comment, while questions sent to Lim Heng Group by registered post went unanswered.
Casino buildings at centre of expanding scam hub
O’Smach underwent rapid construction from 2018, with clusters of new buildings appearing around casino properties near the Thai border.
Satellite images show development accelerating through late 2025, when the town had become one of Southeast Asia’s major scam centres.
Thai security officials estimated that about 3,000 people lived or worked inside the fenced Royal Hill structures, which formed part of a wider scam zone covering roughly 200 acres. At least four buildings within the secured area were allegedly used for criminal activity.
The compounds operated as tightly controlled workplaces where trafficking victims were allegedly forced to conduct romance scams and impersonate police officers or bank employees.
Such operations typically require substantial buildings, land access and protection to function on that scale, according to Sophal Ear, a professor at Arizona State University who studies Cambodian politics.
One Thai woman, Pornpen Aimhun, said she was recruited through a Facebook advertisement in 2022 that promised work as a web administrator.
After arriving at Royal Hill, she said she was forced to take part in a police-impersonation scam and was watched by guards before eventually escaping.
Her account was supported by another person who said they had also been trafficked to the compound, as well as by Thai police, who identified her as a witness in a fraud case connected to the complex.
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, said it uses warning messages when people search for terms that may be associated with fraudulent job advertisements.
A Thai court has since convicted another Thai national who voluntarily worked as a low-level scammer at Royal Hill. He received a five-year prison sentence, although the authorities did not identify his employers.
Lim Heng Group may have been alerted to allegations of trafficking at Royal Hill by September 2024, when one of its representatives filed complaints against two Cambodian publishers that had reported foreigners were being confined inside the casino compound.
Publisher Penn Nuon confirmed that a complaint had been lodged over an article concerning foreign nationals allegedly held at Royal Hill. He maintained that the reporting was accurate but removed the story after receiving legal advice in order to settle the dispute. It remains unclear whether the complaint was later withdrawn.
Under Cambodian law, landlords could face prosecution if investigators established that they knew their property was being used for crime and allowed the activity to continue, according to legal specialists cited in the investigation.
Royal Thai Police General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, who is leading Thailand’s investigation into suspected cyberfraud at the compound, attributed the operations to Chinese criminal groups.
Thai security reports also identified Lim Heng as the owner of the property.
Lim Heng holds a Cambodian royal title equivalent to a duke and has appeared at social events with senior military officers.
A business association listing him as a member reported that he donated US$20,000 to Cambodia’s armed forces in 2025. The Cambodian military did not respond to questions about its relationship with him.
Thai forces bombed the Royal Hill site during a brief border conflict in December 2025 and later occupied the compound.
Thailand said the casino buildings had been taken over by Cambodian forces and used for drone and sniper attacks.
Cambodian Information Minister Neth Pheaktra rejected that account, describing the site as civilian infrastructure.
Cambodia has repeatedly referred to Royal Hill as a hotel, despite the discovery of staged police and bank offices inside neighbouring buildings.
Cambodian minister Chhay Sinarith, who oversees efforts against online fraud, said the government was investigating suspected criminal operations around Royal Hill and remained committed to international cooperation.
He also called on Thai forces to return control of the seized locations so Cambodian authorities could conduct their inquiries.
Cambodia has pledged to eliminate scam centres and has introduced legislation specifically targeting online fraud.
Its wider crackdown has included the extradition to China of casino businessman Chen Zhi, who has been accused of running major scam operations.
Across Southeast Asia, predominantly Chinese-led criminal networks have used fortified compounds to hold trafficking victims and force them to defraud people worldwide.
The US government estimated that Americans alone lost US$10 billion to fraud operations based in the region in 2024.
The US State Department has previously reported that abuses linked to Cambodian scam centres remained widespread, citing the ownership of properties by influential figures who allegedly profited from criminal operations.- Reuters
