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Beat | Security | Southeast Asia EU Announces New Sanctions Targeting Southeast Asia-Based Online
Scam Networks Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group and the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, a Myanmar-based rebel
group, were among the targeted groups. By Sebastian Strangio July 31, 2026 The European Council chamber inside the
Europa building in Brussels, Belgium. Credit: Tauno Tõhk (EU2017EE) Subscribe for ads-free reading The European Union
yesterday announced a fresh tranche of sanctions aimed at the operators of Southeast Asia-based online scamming
operations, who they said are responsible for “serious human rights violations.” In a statement, the European
Council stated that it was imposing “restrictive measures” against seven persons and three entities in Cambodia and
Myanmar, accusing them of “human trafficking, torture, and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments,” as well
as billions of dollars in fraud. The sanctions, which involve asset freezes and travel bans for the designated
individuals and entities, are the latest response to the scamming industry that has entrenched itself across mainland
Southeast Asia since the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in loosely regulated parts of Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.
Coordinated predominantly by Chinese organized crime syndicates, these industrial-scale scam operations run
romance-investment and crypto scams on victims who target victims across the globe. In addition to victimizing those on
the receiving end of the scams, these rely on a large indentured workforce – mostly ordinary people who have been
“trafficked or lured under false pretenses [and] held against their will,” the European Council said. Inside scam
centers, victims have reported being confined in cell-like rooms, as well as subjected to beatings, mistreatment, and
torture. The new sanctions (the full Council decision is here) target the Cambodia-based Prince Holding Group and its
chairman Chen Zhi. According to the EU, Prince has built scam centers in Cambodia and Myanmar under a number of front
companies that “perpetrate cryptocurrency investment scams and other fraudulent schemes.” Prince Group was
previously the subject of sweeping sanctions by the United States and United Kingdom, which were announced in October
2024. Shortly afterward, Chen was extradited to China, where he now faces the death penalty on a range of charges.
Another target was the Jin Bei Group, another Cambodia-based entity that has developed casinos and scam centers in the
port city of Sihanoukville, and its chairman, Zhu Zhongbiao. The other major target of the EU action was the Democratic
Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), an armed group that controls territory in Myanmar’s Karen State, around the border city
of Myawaddy, which has grown into a pulsing hub of scam activity over the past five years. The sanctions targeted four
individuals in the DKBA’s ruling hierarchy, including Chief of Staff Saw San Sung and Major General Saw Kyaw Hla, the
chairman of the DKBA’s Central Economic Committee, and Col. Saw Eh Le Htoo, the operator of the Deeko Park scam center
compound. The DKBA, which is loosely aligned with the Myanmar military, is “responsible for facilitating large-scale
scam centers, by allowing these illegal compounds to operate under its protection and enabling criminal networks to
function within areas under its control.” It also cited reports that the DKBA’s soldiers had participated in
violence against victims trapped inside compounds on its territory. The European Union “has consistently expressed
grave concern about the proliferation of scam centers in Southeast Asia” and “underlined the need to dismantle those
criminal networks, protect victims and ensure accountability for those responsible,” the Council said. The EU has
previously announced sanctions against three individuals and one entity associated with the Karen Border Guard Force
(BGF), another military-aligned rebel group that controls a swath of territory along the Thai border in Karen State.
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Log in. The European Union yesterday announced a fresh tranche of sanctions aimed at the operators of Southeast
Asia-based online scamming operations, who they said are responsible for “serious human rights violations.” In a
statement, the European Council stated that it was imposing “restrictive measures” against seven persons and three
entities in Cambodia and Myanmar, accusing them of “human trafficking, torture, and other cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatments,” as well as billions of dollars in fraud. The sanctions, which involve asset freezes and travel bans for
the designated individuals and entities, are the latest response to the scamming industry that has entrenched itself
across mainland Southeast Asia since the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in loosely regulated parts of Cambodia, Laos,
and Myanmar. Coordinated predominantly by Chinese organized crime syndicates, these industrial-scale scam operations run
romance-investment and crypto scams on victims who target victims across the globe. In addition to victimizing those on
the receiving end of the scams, these rely on a large indentured workforce – mostly ordinary people who have been
“trafficked or lured under false pretenses [and] held against their will,” the European Council said. Inside scam
centers, victims have reported being confined in cell-like rooms, as well as subjected to beatings, mistreatment, and
torture. The new sanctions (the full Council decision is here) target the Cambodia-based Prince Holding Group and its
chairman Chen Zhi. According to the EU, Prince has built scam centers in Cambodia and Myanmar under a number of front
companies that “perpetrate cryptocurrency investment scams and other fraudulent schemes.” Prince Group was
previously the subject of sweeping sanctions by the United States and United Kingdom, which were announced in October
2024. Shortly afterward, Chen was extradited to China, where he now faces the death penalty on a range of charges.
Another target was the Jin Bei Group, another Cambodia-based entity that has developed casinos and scam centers in the
port city of Sihanoukville, and its chairman, Zhu Zhongbiao. The other major target of the EU action was the Democratic
Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), an armed group that controls territory in Myanmar’s Karen State, around the border city
of Myawaddy, which has grown into a pulsing hub of scam activity over the past five years. The sanctions targeted four
individuals in the DKBA’s ruling hierarchy, including Chief of Staff Saw San Sung and Major General Saw Kyaw Hla, the
chairman of the DKBA’s Central Economic Committee, and Col. Saw Eh Le Htoo, the operator of the Deeko Park scam center
compound. The DKBA, which is loosely aligned with the Myanmar military, is “responsible for facilitating large-scale
scam centers, by allowing these illegal compounds to operate under its protection and enabling criminal networks to
function within areas under its control.” It also cited reports that the DKBA’s soldiers had participated in
violence against victims trapped inside compounds on its territory. The European Union “has consistently expressed
grave concern about the proliferation of scam centers in Southeast Asia” and “underlined the need to dismantle those
criminal networks, protect victims and ensure accountability for those responsible,” the Council said. The EU has
previously announced sanctions against three individuals and one entity associated with the Karen Border Guard Force
(BGF), another military-aligned rebel group that controls a swath of territory along the Thai border in Karen State.
AuthorsStaff AuthorSebastian StrangioSebastian Strangio is Southeast Asia editor at The Diplomat. View
ProfileTagsASEAN BeatSecuritySoutheast AsiaCambodiaMyanmarCambodia scam operationsChen ZhiDemocratic Karen Benevolent
ArmyEU sanctionsEU sanctions on CambodiaEU sanctions on MyanmarEuropean UnionJinbeiMyanmar scam operationsOnline
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