OCTOBER 17 — When the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three Singaporeans and 17 Singapore-registered entities this week for their alleged links to a massive crypto-scamming syndicate in Cambodia, the news reverberated across Asean.
For years, Southeast Asia has been seen as the “testing ground” for transnational cybercrime networks – where weak regulation, porous borders and digital naivety have created the perfect storm for illicit profits. Yet this time, the message is unmistakable: no scam is too large, too complex or too cross-border to punish.
The scale of this case is staggering. The US has seized nearly US$15 billion in Bitcoin – the largest asset forfeiture in its history – from an intricate web of shell companies spanning Singapore, Cambodia, Mauritius, Hong Kong and several offshore jurisdictions. At the heart of the network is Chen Zhi, 38, originally from China but now carrying both Cambodian and British citizenship. He remains at large.
Once a trusted adviser to former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen, Chen Zhi enjoyed the continued patronage of his son, current Prime Minister Hun Manet. His conglomerate, Prince Holding Group, was accused of using dozens of front companies to launder proceeds from crypto scams and forced-labour compounds in Cambodia, where trafficked workers were coerced into defrauding victims worldwide.
If there was ever a moment for Asean to wake up to the full magnitude of digital scamming, this is it. The old excuse – that such operations are “too big”, “too international” or “too technically sophisticated” to tackle – no longer holds. The evidence now proves that coordinated action can expose, sanction and dismantle these networks. What remains is for Asean, the United States and Interpol to work hand in glove to ensure that no digital criminal can hide behind jurisdictional shadows again.
Asean’s growing digital vulnerability
Southeast Asia’s rapid digitisation – from fintech adoption to cryptocurrency trading – has been both a blessing and a curse. The region’s young, tech-savvy population has driven one of the fastest digital booms in the world, yet this same environment has made it a hotbed for cyber fraud. Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar have already been labelled by global law enforcement as the “new cybercrime triangle”.
Thousands of scam victims, from China to Europe, have traced stolen funds back to this region. Even more disturbing are reports that trafficked individuals are being forced to work as “digital slaves” – coding phishing platforms, managing fake wallets and luring investors into Ponzi-like crypto schemes. These are no longer crimes of greed alone; they are crimes against humanity conducted in cyberspace.
Singapore’s inclusion in the latest US sanctions list shows that even advanced, rule-based economies are not immune. Shell companies registered under its business-friendly laws were allegedly used to mask and launder illicit funds. The lesson is clear: no Asean member state can fight this alone.
The need for a joint front
To defeat such complex, decentralised networks, multilateral coordination is essential. Asean, the US and Interpol must form a Joint Task Force on Digital Crime and Crypto Fraud that operates across borders, jurisdictions and legal systems.
First, real-time intelligence sharing is crucial. Scam networks move cryptocurrency across borders within minutes, often splitting funds into thousands of microtransactions. Law enforcement agencies must have an integrated database of blacklisted wallets, scam entities and shell companies. Interpol’s digital forensics unit can play a pivotal role by connecting national cybercrime bureaus from Asean capitals to Washington and The Hague.
Second, harmonised legal frameworks across Asean are overdue. Definitions of crypto-related crimes still differ widely – what qualifies as “fraud” in one country may fall into a legal grey zone in another.
This inconsistency allows criminals to exploit gaps in jurisdiction and enforcement. Asean should develop a regional Digital Crime Convention, modelled on the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, to standardise investigation procedures, evidence handling and extradition clauses.
Third, joint asset-tracing and forfeiture regimes should be institutionalised. When one member state seizes illicit crypto assets, those funds must be frozen across all participating jurisdictions simultaneously.
The US sanctions against the Singapore–Cambodia network demonstrate that such coordination is not only possible but highly effective. Asean’s financial intelligence units should deepen cooperation with OFAC, Europol and Interpol’s Financial Crime Centre.
Building capacity and trust
Many Asean countries still lack the technical expertise and forensic tools to trace blockchain transactions effectively. The US can contribute here – not by dominating, but by empowering. Capacity-building partnerships in digital forensics, AI-driven wallet analysis and blockchain auditing can help Asean authorities act swiftly when scams are detected.
Equally important is trust. Cybercrime investigations are sensitive and often politically charged. Information sharing will only succeed when countries trust that data exchanged will not be misused or leaked. The US and Asean should therefore create a secure digital coordination hub, possibly hosted in Malaysia or Singapore, where encrypted intelligence can be exchanged among vetted officers.
A matter of political will
Ultimately, punishing digital scammers is not about technology – it is about political will.
Countries must be ready to expose corruption, revoke business licences and prosecute nationals involved, regardless of status. For too long, Southeast Asia’s scam networks have operated under a veil of impunity, protected by local complicity or weak enforcement. The latest US action tears through that veil. It signals that the world’s most powerful financial regulators are no longer willing to tolerate Asean as a safe harbour for financial crime.
This is an opportunity Asean cannot squander. Collective action will not only protect its citizens but also enhance investor confidence in its emerging digital economy.
The moral imperative
Behind every “crypto scam” statistic lies human suffering: retirees who lost life savings, workers trafficked into cybercrime compounds, and reputations of entire nations tarnished by complicity. These crimes are not victimless abstractions of digital finance; they are the new frontier of exploitation.
Therefore, to “flail” – to fight back and not flounder – Asean must act decisively. It must treat digital scamming as a transnational crime equal in severity to terrorism or drug trafficking. The region’s credibility depends on it.
Asean has long championed the principle of “non-interference”. Yet in the digital age, inaction is itself a form of interference – against justice, against humanity and against the integrity of Asean’s economic future. The United States has shown that even the largest scams can be traced and punished. Interpol has shown that no border is too distant for coordinated law enforcement. It is now Asean’s turn to demonstrate that it will not stand idly by while its digital landscape becomes a playground for global predators.
No scam is too large to punish, and no region is too small to defend. It only takes cooperation – and the courage to act.
* Phar Kim Beng is Professor of Asean Studies and Director, Institute of Internationalisation and Asean Studies (IINTAS), International Islamic University Malaysia
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
