Cambodian private security companies connected to the country's military, police and powerful business networks helped sustain a scamming industry built on trafficking, forced labour, torture and slavery, Amnesty International said in a new report published on Thursday, October 29.

Source: Amnesty International

The report, titled Official Business: Security companies and authorities at scamming compounds in Cambodia, identifies five private security companies that provided services at scamming compounds, and details their links to members of Cambodia's military, police and business elites. Amnesty said it also identified multiple members of the military and police who worked as security guards, or trained or supervised guards, at more than 20 compounds.

What the investigation found

Between January 2023 and September 2026, Amnesty interviewed 151 scamming compound survivors and reviewed records concerning more than 400 additional victims. Researchers identified 86 compounds and visited 82 of them, finding security guards at every compound, and geolocated videos from more than 200 security guards' TikTok accounts to 23 compounds. The evidence links more than 20 members of the military and police to the private security companies and to at least 22 of the 86 compounds.

Survivors consistently described guards as responsible for preventing escape, Amnesty said. Many reported guards beating people who attempted to flee, administering electric shocks, detaining people in 'dark rooms' and standing guard while compound managers raped women, according to the report. Most of the 151 survivors said guards carried or had immediate access to electric shock batons, and several reported seeing guards or other people carrying firearms.

The five companies, and the denials

Amnesty named Leap Somnang, which it linked to at least 15 compounds across eight provinces; Security Response, linked to five compounds; ZD Security, formerly BIC Security, linked to two compounds; Dara Security, linked to two compounds in Sihanoukville; and Best Security, linked to a compound in Bavet where Amnesty documented trafficking, forced labour and child labour. Amnesty said Leap Somnang is controlled by Ban Sophat, who publicly served as its chairman while also being a colonel in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.

The companies and individuals named have pushed back. Amnesty said Ban Sophat denied holding any ownership, director or management role in Leap Somnang, stating he had 'served as an advisor to the company owner'. Best Security denied that Deputy Police Chief Lay Channy — whose phone numbers Amnesty found on a Best Security advertisement — had any control over the company, and said it had no history of providing services at the Bavet compound. Security Response denied all allegations in the report. Amnesty said it wrote to each corporate actor and individual identified, and included the full responses received in its report.

"For years, survivors of these nightmarish compounds described encountering members of the Cambodian military or police inside. These accounts could not be independently verified — until now," said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International's Secretary General. "At the heart of these connections are security companies whose guards controlled compound exits, hunted down people who escaped and enforced compliance through fear and violence. Without them, this system of mass exploitation could not have functioned." The Guardian also reported the findings on Thursday.

Source: The Guardian

Crackdown, but no accountability yet, Amnesty says

Following a government crackdown launched in July 2025, large-scale scamming compound operations currently appear to be dormant, Amnesty said. Cambodian authorities responded to Amnesty on October 15 noting that 77 police officers had been disciplined in connection with scamming compounds. But Amnesty said it is unaware of any investigations into the five security companies profiled, their owners and managers, or the wider commercial and state connections documented — and called for prompt, independent investigations, suspension of company licences while credible allegations are investigated, and remedies and reparations for victims.