Over 100 Chinese nationals to be deported for online scam
THE Ministr y of Interior is planning to deport 128 Chinese nationa ls af ter t hey were arrested in Preah Sihanouk prov ince on Wednesday for t heir a lleged involvement in an online money extortion scam.
Y Sok hy, the head of the Department of Counter-terrorism and Transnationa l Crime, told The Post on Thursday that the Chinese nationa ls were being questioned at t he Ministr y of Interior’s General Department of Immigration.
“These people were involved in online scams. When our procedures are complete, the police will send them out of Cambodia,” he said.
Provincial police chief Chuon Narin told The Post that the Department made
the arrests in collaboration with the provincial police, provincial court and Chinese police.
He said the authorities made arrests at two locations in Mittapheap district – a five-storey building in Village II’s Group 26 in Commune III and the Royal Princess Guesthouse in Village III’s Group IV in Commune II.
Narin said he could not provide details of the suspects’ activities as his police officers had only cooperated as representatives of the local authority.
A few hours after t he arrests, he said, t he police sent t he suspects to t he Minist r y of Interior.
“More than 10 of t he suspects are women. I’m not sure what offences they are accused of as we just of fered assistance in t heoperation.
“Their arrest complied with a warrant from Chinese police,” he said.
In December last year, the General Department of Immigration deported 235 Chinese nationals, including 35 women, for their part in a Voice over Internet Protocol ( VoIP) online money extortion scam.
Cheap Sotheary, the provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, said on Thursday that such scams targeted other Chinese nationals.
She said the cases were investigated by Chinese police in collaboration with Cambodian authorities.
“When we first learned last year that the authorities had arrested a large number of Chinese people for being involved in an extortion scam, we were surprised. But we’re not surprised anymore, because it is happening too often,” Sotheary said.