Southeast Asian governments and businesses have been rocked by a renewed focus on the region’s notorious scam centers, compounds where workers—often themselves victims of human trafficking—try to defraud individuals in wealthier economies like Singapore and Hong Kong.
In mid-October, the U.S. and UK slapped sanctions targeting individuals and entities within the Cambodia-based Prince Group, which officials accused of being linked to transnational cybercrime. Nearby Singapore later seized just over $115 million worth of assets tied to the Group. (The Prince Group this week said it “categorically rejects” any allegations that it or its chairman Chen Zhi engaged in any unlawful activity.)
