Border casino landlord linked to Chinese scam rings and trafficking
Reuters reports that the Cambodian Lim Heng Group owned buildings in the Royal Hill casino complex at the Cambodia–Thailand border that were used as scam hubs with thousands of workers detained for fraud and impersonation schemes run by Chinese-led gangs. A March 2024 lease shows $200,000 monthly rent for three buildings to a Chinese national, and investigations tie the operation to cross-border elites, with Thai forces bombing the site in December and Cambodia promising crackdowns. The story highlights how casinos and landlord networks can enable large-scale online fraud and trafficking, affecting victims worldwide and involving significant losses, though Reuters did not find direct involvement by Lim Heng in the scams.