Amnesty Says Cambodian Police and Soldiers Worked as Guards at Abusive Scam Compounds

Cambodian police and military officers worked as private security guards at scam compounds where thousands of people were forced into online fraud, according to a report published by Amnesty International. The rights group says the guards were part of a system that allowed slavery and rape to take place inside the sites, with some using electric batons to keep people confined.

Amnesty's secretary general, Agnès Callamard, said survivors had described meeting members of the military or police inside the compounds for years. "These accounts could not be independently verified, until now," she said.

The investigation drew on 151 survivor interviews, visits to 82 scam compounds and social media videos from dozens of guard accounts showing people in company uniform. Amnesty said this allowed it to link illicit operations to five well-connected private security companies. It identified more than 20 members of the military and police who were seen with an active presence at the compounds, including some working openly as guards.

Callamard said the guards controlled exits, hunted down people who escaped and enforced compliance through fear and violence. "Without them, this system of mass exploitation could not have functioned," she said. Survivors have described guards giving electric shocks, carrying out beatings, holding people in "dark rooms" and standing watch while compound managers raped women.

The report, titled Official Business: Security companies and authorities at scamming compounds in Cambodia, says a company called Leap Somnang had the largest footprint. It was linked to at least 15 compounds across eight provinces, and twelve survivors identified its guards, uniforms or logo. Amnesty alleges the company is believed to be controlled by Ban Sophat, who publicly served as its chair while also being a colonel in the armed forces, and it supplied photos it says show him with company guards at two compounds.

In a letter quoted by Amnesty, Ban Sophat denied holding any ownership, director or management role at Leap Somnang and said he had "served as an adviser to the company owner". He added that appearing in a photograph at a location does not mean he knew of or took part in activities there. Amnesty said Leap Somnang did not respond.

The United Nations says hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked into south-east Asia from around the world, often lured by promises of office jobs and then made to run online scams aimed at victims globally. One example is so-called pig butchering, a romance fraud in which criminals build a fake relationship before stealing money. Annual losses are estimated at about $100bn, and some parts of the industry appear to be shifting to South Asia.

Cambodia launched its largest-ever crackdown on scam operations in July 2025, and authorities say they have shut down hundreds of scam centres. Amnesty said the industry there is now "dormant", but Callamard warned that "the infrastructure of impunity has not been dismantled".

Cambodia's interior ministry told Amnesty it had disciplined 77 police officers, prosecuted six private security guards for illegal use of stun batons and detained 17 military, police and civil officials for colluding with criminals. It said 3,477 suspects had been sent to court, citing a policy of "no tolerance, no exemption, and no retreat". The Guardian has contacted the ministry, Ban Sophat and Leap Somnang for comment.