Cambodian casino landlord tied to scam compound near Thai border

A March 2024 lease put three buildings inside the Royal Hill casino compound in O’Smach under Lim Heng Group, linking a powerful Cambodian gambling network to a border site Thai authorities later estimated held about 3,000 people across roughly 200 acres. The buildings sat only tens of meters from the casino on the Thai-Cambodian border, and the rental agreement covered two years at $200,000 a month.

Inside those structures, workers and Thai military officials found a fraud hub dressed up to look like law enforcement and banking offices from several countries. The site included fake police set pieces modeled on offices from at least seven nations, including Singapore, China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam, a backdrop for impersonation scams aimed at victims far beyond Cambodia. Investigators also found scam scripts, hundreds of SIM cards, mobile phones and fake uniforms on the property.

There was no evidence that Lim Heng Group directly ran the trafficking or fraud, but it did show the company as the landlord for buildings used in the criminal operation. Royal Hill did not answer phone calls or emails about activity at the compound, and Lim Heng Group did not respond to questions sent by registered post.

The O’Smach compound drew attention earlier in 2026, after December 2025 clashes along the border. Thai soldiers visited and documented the property in March and April 2026, and the site had been identified as an abandoned scam compound by then.

The U.S. State Department kept Cambodia at Tier 3 in its 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report. Its 2024 report said corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained widespread and endemic, with tens of thousands of victims exploited in forced criminality through online scam operations. Human Rights Watch said scam centers in Cambodia continue to operate with impunity, citing the UN human rights office’s estimate that at least 100,000 people were enslaved in such centers.

Scam centers in Southeast Asia have grown to industrial scale and often operate under the cover of casinos, hotels and industrial parks, UNODC said. On April 23, 2026, the Treasury sanctioned Cambodian Senator Kok An and 28 associated individuals and entities over a scam-center network. Americans lost at least $10 billion to scam operations in Southeast Asia in 2024, U.S. officials said.