Cambodian businessman exposed in BBC Eye online scam investigation arrested

Cambodian authorities have arrested a prominent businessman who featured in a 2023 BBCI investigation into alleged online fraud as part of a broader effort to tackle organized online fraud.

Kwong Lee, a 50-year-old Cambodian national, has been charged with illegal recruitment for exploitation, aggravated fraud, organized crime and money laundering related to alleged crimes committed in Cambodia and elsewhere since 2019.

On 15 January, a Phnom Penh court ordered him placed in further detention pending further proceedings.

Kuong Li appeared in Pig slaughter romance scama BBCI investigation into allegations of human trafficking and fraud within fraud complexes in Southeast Asia.

This program, which aired in March 2023, focused in part on Hoang Le Complex, a place owned by Kwong Ly in the coastal city of Sihanoukville.

The documentary follows Didi, a Chinese man who said he left his home after being promised a well-paying job, but was trafficked into Cambodia and forced to work inside the gated compound.

Didi said he was forced to work from 20:00 to 08:00 local time (13:00 to 01:00 GMT), targeting victims in Europe and the United States, and was not allowed to leave the compound.

He also shared secretly recorded footage with the BBC and the Global Anti-Scam Organization (Gaso), a volunteer-run group that helps rescue and support trafficked victims.

In a video diary recorded inside his residence, Dede said he was told to “continue the fraud as long as I live,” and that he witnessed another victim being beaten and dragged from the office after making a mistake.

In desperation, Didi tried to escape by jumping from the third floor. He later took refuge in a safe house in Phnom Penh, before eventually returning to China.

Three years after the documentary aired, he now works in a factory in southern China.

The investigation also included testimony from another Chinese man, Mei Lijun, who said he became seriously ill while detained at the compound. He was found abandoned on the highway and taken to the hospital. The BBC obtained footage of his last hours before his death due to organ failure.

The documentary identified Kuong Li as the owner of the Huang Le complex and stated that his business empire covers real estate, casinos, hotels and construction companies. He previously received the honorary royal title of “Okenha” and was photographed alongside senior officials at public and private events.

The BBC presented these allegations to Kwong Ly and the Sihanoukville Provincial Police. Neither responded to a request for comment before the documentary aired.

However, in April 2023, Cambodian authorities issued a letter in response to the programme, confirming that Kwong Ly was the owner of the Hoang Lo complex, but dismissed the allegations as “baseless”.

The letter said that an investigation conducted by the Commercial Gambling Crimes Department on February 8, 2023 “found no sign of forced captivity or torture,” and claimed that the documentary did not reflect what it described as the “utmost efforts” made by the authorities to prevent and eliminate all forms of human trafficking.

Kong Ly also rejected the allegations in interviews with Cambodian media.

In June 2023, Kwong Ly was bestowed the title of “Neak Oknha”, one of Cambodia’s highest royal honours, one rank higher than his previous title of “Oknha”.

While Kwong Ly remains in pre-trial detention, Cambodian authorities say investigations are continuing into wider networks linked to organized online fraud.

The Cambodian courts handled 37 major cases between 2025 and mid-January 2026, leading to the conviction of 172 gang leaders and their accomplices, the Cybercrime Commission Secretariat said.

One notable case concerns Chen Qi handed over Earlier this year. The Chinese billionaire businessman is accused of masterminding a vast online fraud network, smuggling workers into forced labor camps to defraud victims globally.

The move was widely seen as a signal that Phnom Penh was responding to growing international pressure to address fraud vehicles and related financial crimes operating within its borders.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Facebook that Cambodia considers “fighting technology crimes” a priority and aims to “eliminate all negative issues related to online fraud crimes.”

The United Nations estimates that hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to Southeast Asia – and in many cases to Cambodia – with promises of well-paid jobs, before being forced to carry out online scams in harsh conditions inside cramped apartment complexes.

Across the region, governments have launched parallel crackdowns on online fraud and the financial networks that support them.

In Thailand, authorities have intensified investigations into money laundering operations linked to fraudulent centers, confiscating assets and arresting suspects accused of transferring illicit funds through banks, cryptocurrency platforms and shell companies.

Meanwhile, in Myanmar, authorities carried out raids on several high-profile fraud centers, detaining thousands of people and dismantling facilities accused of running large-scale online fraud schemes.

Many of these sites have been linked to transnational criminal networks operating in multiple countries in the region.