Cambodia's Nationwide Casino Review Uncovers Fraud Ties in Licensed Operations

Officials released a detailed government report on July 24 2026 that examined every one of the country's 195 licensed casinos and determined that 72 of them had connections to online fraud schemes while authorities continued broader enforcement efforts across the sector.

The inspection covered a full twelve-month period from June 2025 through June 2026 and formed part of an ongoing campaign to address scam centers operating under the cover of legitimate gaming licenses and the findings prompted immediate regulatory responses including license actions and operational shutdowns.

Scope of the Inspection and Key Numbers

Inspectors visited thousands of sites during the review and compiled data that showed how certain casinos had allowed their premises or infrastructure to support fraudulent online activities while separate raids targeted dedicated scam compounds that operated independently of any licensed facility.

During that same period authorities carried out 737 raids on scam centers and inspected a total of 28,500 locations across the country and those operations led to the revocation of 19 casino licenses along with the suspension of 30 additional licenses and the closure of 23 more casinos whose permits simply expired without renewal.

Regulatory Responses and License Actions

Prime Minister Hun Manet addressed the results directly and described the coordinated inspections as an important advance in the effort to dismantle networks that use casinos as fronts for large-scale online fraud and he also emphasized the role of international partnerships in supporting the domestic crackdown.

Regulators moved quickly once the report data became available and the combination of license revocations and suspensions reduced the number of operating casinos while the 23 expired licenses that were not renewed further trimmed the overall count of active facilities.

International Cooperation and Ongoing Enforcement

Cross-border coordination played a visible part in the year's activities because many of the scam networks targeted foreign victims and required information sharing with law enforcement agencies in other countries and that collaboration helped authorities identify which licensed casinos had been drawn into the schemes.

The report itself functions as a one-year summary of the crackdown and it links the casino-specific findings to the larger pattern of raids and site inspections that took place between June 2025 and June 2026 and observers note that the numbers reflect both preventive measures and direct interventions at suspected locations.

Impact on the Casino Sector

Casino operators faced heightened scrutiny throughout the review period and those facilities found to have fraud connections received the strictest penalties while others that simply let their licenses lapse contributed to the overall reduction in active venues without requiring additional enforcement steps.

The remaining licensed casinos now operate under tighter oversight and the government has signaled that follow-up inspections will continue in order to prevent any re-emergence of the fraudulent activities that prompted the original nationwide sweep.

Conclusion

The July 2026 report provides a clear snapshot of enforcement outcomes from the preceding year and it shows how inspections of all 195 licensed casinos led to concrete actions against 72 facilities while parallel raids and site visits produced hundreds of additional interventions and the combination of license revocations, suspensions, and non-renewals has reshaped the operating landscape for casinos in Cambodia.