Cambodia probes 28 casinos as it reclassifies online betting as cyber fraud

Cambodia's anti-scam commission says 28 casino sites are under investigation for suspected links to online fraud, and that digital gambling run from casino premises is now treated as equivalent to cyber fraud. Updated enforcement figures show the crackdown widening fast in the month after the country's 30 September online gambling shutdown.

What the anti-scam commission announced

At a press briefing on 21 October, Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith, who heads the CCOS Secretariat, said authorities were investigating 28 casino sites suspected of hosting technology-based fraud. According to Cambodianess, he told reporters that authorities are "actively monitoring and investigating technology-based fraud activities within casino premises, classifying digital gambling or online betting operations as equivalent to cyber fraud offenses."

That framing matters for operators. Under the new approach, an online betting operation found inside a casino is not handled as a gaming licence breach alone. It is treated in the same category as the scam compounds the commission has been dismantling since mid-2025.

Officials did not name the 28 casinos. They also did not say whether any of them overlap with the 27 casinos already sanctioned by the Ministry of Interior. Local outlet Gazette Khmer reported that observers are calling for the names and owners of affected casinos to be disclosed.

The numbers, one month apart

The commission's latest figures cover July 2025 to the end of September 2026. Comparing them with the figures Interior Minister Sar Sokha gave in early September shows how quickly the caseload is growing.

The two releases describe this metric differently ("suspects sent to court" versus "charged and detained under court orders"), so the change should be read as indicative rather than like-for-like.

On that basis, 121 additional cases reached the courts in roughly one month. The count of dismantled scam centres held at 86. The commission also said courts have frozen more than US$300 million in bank accounts, along with other assets.

How the casino sector got here

The 21 October announcement is the latest step in a sequence that began in September.

• Early September: Sar Sokha announced that online gambling at all casinos would be suspended from October, citing a decision by Prime Minister Hun Manet. Khmer Times reported that operations could only resume once proper management systems were in place.
• 30 September: The deadline passed. State news agency AKP reported on 1 October that all online gambling, inside or outside casinos, was prohibited from that date. It said 24 casinos had ceased online gambling and dismantled equipment: 12 in Preah Sihanouk, seven in Banteay Meanchey and five in Svay Rieng. The activities stopped included live-streamed gambling, online football betting, online lotteries and online bird-fighting bets.
• Early October: The CCOS and the Commercial Gambling Management Commission of Cambodia (CGMC) agreed to run joint, multi-agency casino inspections from October across the 16 provinces that host licensed casinos, AKP reported on 7 October. Chhay Sinarith said at that meeting that "unregulated online gambling is itself a form of tech scamming". CGMC Secretary-General Yeth Vinel warned that any casino found running unauthorised online gambling would face "statutory administrative sanctions", together with full cooperation with law enforcement "to pursue maximum criminal charges under current laws."
• 21 October: The commission disclosed the investigation into 28 casino sites.

What it means for the industry

For land-based licensees, the regulatory risk has moved beyond the gaming licence. Under the cyber-fraud classification, an online betting operation on casino premises can bring criminal exposure, asset freezes and licence revocation, rather than an administrative penalty alone.

Officials have said online gambling may return only once management systems are in place. No licensing framework, technical standard or timetable for that has been published. Until one appears, there is no lawful route for online gambling from Cambodian casinos.

Suppliers and B2B partners have exposure too. Any live-streaming, betting platform or payment service connected to a Cambodian casino property now sits inside a cyber-fraud enforcement perimeter. That perimeter includes court-ordered freezes of bank accounts.

What to watch

• Whether the 28 casinos are named, and whether further licences are revoked or suspended.
• Results from the joint CCOS–CGMC inspections across the 16 casino provinces.
• Any draft rules setting the "management systems" that officials say must exist before online gambling can resume.

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