Cambodia's Nationwide Casino Inspection Uncovers Fraud Links in Licensed Operations

On July 24 2026 a government report presented details from a full inspection of Cambodia's 195 licensed casinos and identified 72 of them as participants in online fraud activities and the findings cover operations between June 2025 and June 2026 when authorities carried out raids on 737 scam centers while also inspecting 28,500 locations across the country and the same period saw 19 casino licenses revoked plus 30 others suspended while another 23 casinos stopped operations once their licenses expired.

Scope of the Inspection and Key Findings

The inspection process examined every licensed casino operating within Cambodia's borders and the results showed that a significant portion had direct ties to online fraud schemes which often involve coordinated scam operations that use casino premises or related infrastructure for illicit activities and data from the review highlighted how these 72 casinos connected to broader networks that authorities had already targeted through earlier raids and inspections and the report noted that such connections emerged after cross-checking records from the 737 raided scam centers against casino licensing documentation.

Authorities conducted the bulk of their fieldwork over the twelve-month span from June 2025 through June 2026 and during that window they visited 28,500 separate locations which ranged from suspected scam hubs to supporting facilities tied to casino operations and the scale of these efforts allowed officials to map out patterns of fraud that linked back to licensed entities and the review process included verification of ownership structures and operational records for each of the 195 casinos under examination.

Actions Taken Against Non-Compliant Casinos

Following the inspection results regulators moved quickly to revoke 19 casino licenses and suspend another 30 while the remaining cases prompted further monitoring and 23 additional casinos simply ceased operations after their licenses reached expiration without renewal applications and these measures reduced the total number of active licensed casinos and created immediate gaps in the sector that authorities then filled through new oversight protocols and the report emphasized that license actions stemmed directly from evidence gathered during the raids and location inspections rather than from preliminary suspicions alone.

Prime Minister Hun Manet addressed the outcomes of the inspection and described them as a major step in combating scam hubs that operate within or alongside the casino industry and his statement pointed to the combined impact of the raids the location inspections and the license adjustments as evidence of progress in disrupting fraud networks and the prime minister also noted that international cooperation played a central role in gathering the intelligence needed to connect specific casinos to overseas scam operations.

Role of International Cooperation

Cross-border partnerships supplied key information that helped Cambodian officials trace money flows and communication lines back to the 72 identified casinos and these collaborations involved data sharing with foreign law enforcement agencies which allowed authorities to confirm links between local premises and larger scam syndicates operating across multiple countries and the report referenced how such joint efforts expanded the reach of the domestic raids and inspections beyond what could have been achieved through internal resources alone and the resulting evidence supported both the license revocations and the suspensions issued during the review period.

Broader Context of Enforcement Efforts

The one-year report into online scam crackdown (June 2025 – June 2026) compiled statistics from multiple agencies and presented them as a unified record of enforcement activity that extended well beyond casino licensing and included the 737 raided centers plus the 28,500 inspected sites and this comprehensive approach allowed regulators to identify patterns that single-agency efforts might have missed and the findings showed that many of the fraud activities tied to the 72 casinos relied on physical locations that had previously escaped notice until the nationwide sweep began.

Conclusion

The July 24 2026 presentation of the inspection results marked the culmination of coordinated actions across Cambodia's regulatory bodies and the documented outcomes included license revocations suspensions and operational closures that directly addressed fraud involvement among the 195 licensed casinos and ongoing monitoring continues as authorities apply lessons from the 737 raids and 28,500 inspections to prevent new connections from forming and the prime minister's remarks underscored the value of sustained international cooperation in maintaining pressure on scam networks that intersect with the casino sector.