Officials from the General Commissariat for Research, Investigation and Crime Suppression at the Ministry of Interior sent a suspect — accused of leading a tech-based fraud ring — to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court prosecutor, this afternoon, October 3.
His court appearance followed the completion of a complex investigation, which culminated in a series of September 29 raids.
According to the National Police, the commissariat raided three concealed locations in Phnom Penh, where groups were carrying out technology-based fraud. Their operations were believed to be part of an organised scam network.
Authorities arrested a total of 24 foreign nationals (including 2 women) of three different nationalities and confiscated large amounts of evidence.
“In this case, investigators identified a ringleader named Wang Sheng Yu, a male Chinese national with a passport from Chinese Taipei, who led the group and used Cambodian territory to carry out technology-based fraud against victims in the US,” explained a police statement.
The police’s Anti-Money Laundering Task Force determined that the suspect used digital financial systems (cryptocurrency) belonging to BITPIE (PRO) — an Australia-based company — to launder the proceeds of the group’s fraud obtained from victims. Authorities also intercepted and froze attempted transfers totalling 52,363 USDT, a cryptocurrency which is tethered to the US dollar.
Investigators discovered that the suspect had laundered more than 10 million USDT by moving it from associates in Taiwan through other overseas-based cryptocurrency platforms.
The authorities added that they will share their information with the international law enforcement partners involved in the case.
