Federal authorities announced Thursday they have imposed financial sanctions against Kok An, a prominent Cambodian senator with ties to Senate President Hun Sen, along with 28 other individuals and organizations accused of defrauding American citizens out of millions through elaborate romance scams involving cryptocurrency.
According to the Treasury Department, Kok An leveraged his political influence to shield an extensive network of fraudulent operations. These schemes involved criminals posing as potential romantic partners or friends to manipulate vulnerable Americans into handing over their life savings through digital currency transfers, falsely promising substantial returns before stealing the money entirely.
The sanctioned senator controls multiple businesses, including Crown Resorts, plus additional properties that serve as headquarters for these fraudulent operations, Treasury officials revealed.
Federal investigators discovered that human trafficking victims reported being forced to work at these facilities alongside thousands of others, compelled to defraud Americans under threats of physical harm.
“Eliminating fraud is a top priority for the Trump administration,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated. “Treasury will continue to target fraudsters and scam centers that steal billions of dollars from hardworking Americans, no matter where they operate or how well-connected they are.”
The announcement coincided with criminal charges filed by an interagency Scam Center Strike Force against two Chinese citizens connected to cryptocurrency fraud schemes operating from a compound in Myanmar.
These Chinese nationals, who also tried establishing a similar operation in Cambodia, were apprehended in Thailand during 2026 on immigration violations, according to the Strike Force, which includes federal prosecutors, the Justice Department, FBI and Secret Service.
“This is an incredibly aggressive move from a diplomatic standpoint,” explained Brett Erickson, managing principal at Obsidian Risk Advisors. “The Trump administration is viewing this as a national security threat. These scams are wiping out people’s life savings. This is devastating families.”
The sanctions were revealed just hours after Tether, a major stablecoin company, froze more than $344 million in USDT cryptocurrency allegedly connected to sanctions violations, criminal organizations and other illegal activities. The company said it coordinated with Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and additional law enforcement agencies to implement these restrictions.
Federal task force members also confiscated a social media application used for recruiting human trafficking victims and shut down 503 fake websites designed to facilitate cryptocurrency investment fraud, Treasury Department officials announced.
The State Department has additionally posted a reward up to $10 million for information that leads to seizing or recovering stolen funds from a different Myanmar-based scam operation that received sanctions last November.
Cambodia’s government issued a Friday statement that did not directly address the American government’s actions but declared that “combating online scams has been set as a top national priority.”
Between early 2025 and April 19 of this year, Cambodia completed deportation procedures for 13,039 foreign nationals involved in online fraud schemes, according to the government statement.
