DILI (TOP) - Chaired by Prime-Minister Hun Manet, the Council of Ministers meeting on Friday approved a draft law on anti-online scams, which was prepared by the Justice Ministry in early February to strengthen the legal response to online scams.
The draft would be submitted to the National Assembly soon.
“The Prime Minister and plenary meeting of Council of Ministers decided to approve the draft law on anti-online scam without any changes and to request the legislative body to review and approve it,” the Ministry of Justice stated on its Facebook page.
The law was drafted following the high-profile sanctioning and extradition to China of alleged scam kingpin Chen Zhi, a former advisor to Prime Minister Hun Manet, who said he was unaware that Chen was allegedly running online scam networks across Cambodia.
According to the Justice Ministry, the draft was developed by them and later shared with relevant ministries and institutions to obtain inputs after receiving guidance from the prime minister to enhance the effectiveness of preventing, curbing and suppressing online scam. The draft law was also prepared in accordance with the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime, the ministry said.
Since the crackdown in July, authorities have shut down around 250 scam sites and 91 casinos, senior minister Chhay Sinarith of the government’s anti-online scam commission told AFP. More than 200,000 people have fled scam sites and left Cambodia, while around 10,000 foreign nationals have been deported.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD) conference, Hun Manet said the draft law would also impose responsibilities on property owners and individuals who recruit workers. He stressed that broader accountability would help ensure that all parties play a role in combating online scams.
Dy Molany, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, told CamboJA News that the draft law would establish a clearer and more robust legal framework to “promote” the effectiveness of preventing, curbing and suppressing online scams. She added that the legislation would be submitted to parliament for review and approval.
She did not specify the main content of the draft law, saying that after it is passed by parliament, there would be a press conference to publicize it.
Molany did not respond to a question about how the proposed law would ensure accountability for those involved in online scam, including individuals in positions of power. She also did not reply if civil society groups would be invited to discuss and provide feedback on the draft law.
Neth Pheaktra, Minister of Information, told AFP that the law proposes strict punishments for online scam activities, noting that ringleaders of scam centers could face five to 10 years in prison and fines of up to nearly $250,000. If their operations involve violence, torture, confinement, human trafficking, or forced labor, the penalty increases to 10 to 20 years in prison and fines of up to nearly $500,000.
If the activities lead to one or more deaths, the leaders could face 15 to 30 years in prison or life imprisonment while lower-level scammers may also face five to 10 years in prison and fines of up to nearly $250,000, especially when the crimes are carried out by organized groups and involve many victims.
Last year, a report by U.S. crime expert Jacob Sims titled “Policies and Patterns: State-Abetted Transnational Crime in Cambodia as a Global Security Threat,” recommended indictments, sanctions, visa bans and other accountability measures for 28 government officials and businesspeople, a conglomerate at the center of investigations into links to organized crime.
Am Sam Ath, operations director of Licadho, welcomes the draft law because this scam industry has affected economic, tourism and investment. However, he said, the draft law should collect more input from relevant parties including civil society and the private sector.
Licadho has not seen the draft law yet.
“If the draft law is passed in the near future, with comprehensive input and standards, Cambodia will be able to clean up online scam by implementing this law transparently, and equally without exceptions,” he said. “Therefore, to be effective in enforcing the law, relevant authorities must strictly enforce the law, eliminate corruption.” (cambojanews.com)
