Recently, Cambodia announced publicly that through large-scale special operations, hundreds of fraud networks involved in scams have been eliminated, and there are no longer any large-scale online fraud centers operating in Cambodia. At the same time, Cambodian investigative authorities have also been aggressively dealing with collaborators who provide shelter and facilitation for fraud groups within organized organizations.
According to a case report released by the Cambodian Anti-Corruption Authority (ACU) on August 29, the entire process of exposing an internal corruption scandal within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, conducting internal investigations, and eventually turning the matter over to criminal proceedings was disclosed for the first time. The main suspect in this case, Zhou Shunnan, the former director general of the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was arrested on August 21.
How do a batch of special Cambodian visas, which should have been issued for free, end up in the hands of casinos and online fraudsters? And how can they be sold at prices as high as $6,000 per piece (about 40,319 yuan)?
The entire case was not initially uncovered by the police. It began with an annual review conducted by the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself.
By the end of 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs discovered an anomaly during its annual review: there were significant shortages in the inventory of visa stickers for Category C and CEx visas.
According to the system of the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Category C visas are considered 'Courtesy Visas'. These visas are typically granted to personnel from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have a partnership with the government, or to foreign individuals whom the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government departments deem worthy of courtesy. In principle, these visas are issued without charge. Applicants usually need supporting documents from relevant departments, such as memorandums of cooperation signed between NGOs and the government. The initial validity period of Category C visas is no more than three months, and subsequent extensions can be granted using Category CEx visas, with a maximum extension of one year.
The preservation, management, and issuance of these visa stickers are handled by the General Bureau of Legal, Consular, and Border Affairs led by Zhou Shunnan.
Foreign Affairs Ministry Disciplinary Investigation Committee immediately spoke out.
At the level of the Disciplinary Committee and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhou Shunnan admitted that he had given a large number of visa stickers to his subordinates.
He testified that he had given approximately 11,200 stickers for Class C and CEx visas to two subordinates, Nop Ratha and Yos Rane. Of these, 5,200 were for Class C visas, and 6,000 were for Class CEx visas. Nop Ratha is the deputy director of the Cambodian Citizenship Protection Office. Yos Rane is a contract employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the face of internal investigations, Zhou Shunnan admitted that he benefited from these visas, but the prices offered were not high.
He said that he only received $5 (approximately 34 yuan) per piece.
When questioned by the anti-corruption authorities, Zhou Shunnan initially insisted that there were only 5 dollars.
But the Anti-corruption Bureau then presented evidence showing that his actual earnings could have been between $40 and $50 per item. Therefore, Zhou Shunnan admitted that he indeed charged fees at that rate.
Higher prices are encountered at the end of the supply chain where visas are finally delivered to the market.
The Anti-corruption Bureau stated that the evidence it has indicates that foreign individuals involved in online gambling activities paid up to $6,000 to obtain a Class C or CEx visa.
Faced with this evidence, Zhou Shunnan was stunned. He said: He didn’t expect the law enforcement department to have such detailed information.
He further admitted that the total amount of illegal earnings reached $450,000, and he deposited this money in a bank to earn an annual interest rate of 5%.
Zhou Shunnan confessed that his gang has already used more than 6,000 visa stickers. He said that the last 50 stickers he had were crushed and destroyed, and another 520 stickers may still be in the possession of Nop Ratha and Yos Rane. The Anti-corruption Bureau stated that evidence shows that Zhou Shunnan illegally issued approximately 6,500 visas to unqualified individuals. Additionally, he admitted that he cut up and discarded 4,000 unused visa stickers over time.
During the internal investigation phase, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to take disciplinary action against him. At the end of April, Zhou Shunnan was removed from his position as director-general and later appointed as a consultant to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although he still retained a certain administrative level, he lost his actual leadership and management rights over the original directorate-general.
But the case is not over yet.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsequently discovered that the three individuals continued to sell goods even after being disciplined, and failed to fulfill their commitment to cease illegal activities made in front of the disciplinary committee and ministry leaders. As a result, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued to cooperate with the Anti-Corruption Bureau. Approximately 10 days later, the Anti-Corruption Bureau completed the criminal investigation documents and transferred the three individuals to court.
Meanwhile, another investigation lead by the Department of Immigration of the Ministry of Interior also corroborates the issues discovered within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Immigration Bureau discovered during its screening of foreigners who might engage in fraud activities in Cambodia that many of them held Class C and CEx visas for purposes that did not correspond to their visa categories. These individuals were not the intended recipients of these visas, but instead were job seekers going to Cambodia, or even casino employees. It was found that the fees they paid to obtain such visas ranged from $300 to $6,000. By January 2026, the Immigration Bureau had informed Zhou Shunnan about this unusual situation.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau specifically pointed out that it was in January 2026 that Zhou Shunnan suddenly withdrew all the funds that were originally stored in 220 accounts with a certain bank, totaling over $2 million.
The Immigration Bureau also transferred thousands of pages of documents to the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which involved passports of nearly 200 foreigners. These passports bore visa labels of the C or CEx category, which were considered to be irregular.
The Anti-corruption Bureau estimates that the three individuals gained approximately $3 million from the alleged offenses. Although Zhou Shunnan only admitted having earned $450,000, funds amounting to $980,000 under his name and $250,000 under Nop Ratha have been traced. The authorities have applied to the court to freeze and confiscate these funds. Investigations also revealed that Zhou Shunnan had up to 375 accounts at seven banks, Nop Ratha had five accounts at two banks, and Yos Rane had eleven accounts at two banks.
The prosecution and the court have currently laid down three main charges related to the visa case, including intentional destruction and embezzlement of property, abuse of power, and money laundering.
Anti-Corruption Bureau handled a total of four cases this time around. Two of the smaller cases involved a Thai online gambling boss bribing 5 military police personnel in Cambodia for $774,000, in exchange for releasing 43 arrested online gambling operators. The other case involved a deputy prosecutor in Buddha Province being bribed to release 5 fraudsters.
Two major cases: one is the aforementioned case involving Zhou Shunnan from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the other occurred at the Immigration Bureau.
In this case involving the Immigration Bureau, a total of 6 people have been charged. Among them are Ouk Hai Seila, Deputy Director of the Immigration Bureau, Sar Samnang, Deputy Director of the Phnom Penh Police Department, and Meas Marin, a military brigadier general.
The aforementioned individuals are suspected of accepting bribes from TONY, the owner of the online gambling company Morgan James located on Diamond Island. TONY pays these three individuals monthly in exchange for their protection, preventing the police from conducting searches or sealing up their activities.
In addition, TONY has also made separate payments for different cases. Some of these cases involved payments of up to $10,000 per case, with the aforementioned individuals being asked to handle TONY’s affairs, such as finding and capturing employees who had escaped from TONY.
Over the past year, Cambodia has been proving its ability to dismantle fraudulent operations. Now, as a series of officials from the customs, immigration, police, and even diplomatic agencies come under investigation, Phnom Penh needs to prove something else: that it not only has the courage to arrest fraudsters, but also has the means to deal with accomplices and "internal spies" hidden within the government system.
