Cambodian authorities have arrested Kuong Li, a prominent businessman featured in a 2023 BBC Eye investigation into alleged online scam operations and human trafficking. Li, 50, has been charged with illegal recruitment for exploitation, aggravated fraud, organized crime, and money laundering related to offenses committed in Cambodia and abroad since 2019.
On January 15, a court in Phnom Penh ordered his remand in custody as investigations broadened into organized online fraud.
Li was spotlighted in The Pig Butchering Romance Scam, a documentary that detailed human trafficking and fraud within scam compounds in Southeast Asia. This investigation highlighted the Huang Le compound in Sihanoukville, asserted to be under Li's ownership.
The BBC's program included testimonies from victims like ‘Didi’, a Chinese man who escaped after being forced to scam people around the world under extreme duress. Didi's story revealed the coercive techniques used by Li and his associates, where victims worked grueling hours with no freedom.
Despite initial investigations led by Cambodian authorities dismissing allegations against him as “groundless,” Li was later charged after further scrutiny into the operations of his business empire, which encompassed real estate, casinos, and construction.
Li's arrest signals a larger clampdown on online scam networks in Cambodia amid increasing international pressure. Authorities claim to be pursuing extensive investigations into various organized fraud operations as the country aims to enhance its efforts against cybercrime.
In related developments, recent years have seen hundreds of thousands trafficked to Southeast Asia, often with false job promises, and forced into working for scam enterprises under dire conditions. Governments in the region are beginning to take serious actions to dismantle these criminal organizations.
