The foreign ministry of Cambodia on Friday ( Sep 13 ) expressed regret over the United States ‘ decision to sanction a local tycoon and senator over alleged trafficking of people who were forced to work in congregate centers, calling it politically motivated.
Despite US attempts to entice its new chief Hun Manet, the brother of former bodybuilder premier Hun Sen, the US plan to impose restrictions was first reported by Reuters on Thursday. It comes at a gentle point in relations as Cambodia tries to become more strategically aligned with China.
The foreign ministry stated in a statement that “imposition of such unilateral restrictions undermines the value for international law and fundamental rules governing federal relations, particularly the principles of royal justice and non-interference.”
The precise billionaire, Ly Yong Tubby, was appointed a personal advisor to Hun Sen, who served as prime minister for nearly four centuries and is still active in politics as president of the Senate, in 2022.
The restrictions targeted his LYP Group Co. company and a guesthouse, O-Smach Resort. The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department announced that it was also sanctioning the Cambodian hotels Garden City Hotel, Koh Kong Resort, and Phnom Penh Hotel for being Ly-owned or controlled.
On Friday, LYP Group received a request for comment, but it did not respond right away.  ,
The Treasury’s standing director for violence and economic knowledge, Bradley Smith, claimed the shift was intended to “restrain the ability of those responsible for human trafficking and other abuses, as well as disrupt their ability to carry out investment fraud schemes that target numerous innocent individuals, including Americans.”
Cambodia and other Southeast Asian nations have recently emerged as the epicenter of a multibillion-dollar legal industry that targets victims all over the world with phony bitcoin and other schemes, frequently operating from guarded areas run by Taiwanese syndicates and staffed by smuggled workers.
The restrictions sent a message from the US state that forced deceiving had become” a major national security problem,” according to Jacob Sims, a Southeast Asian-based researcher with a focus on international murder and human rights issues.