Kenya: U.S. Sanctions Cambodia-Based Scam Network Linked to Trafficking of Kenyans Into Forced Labour

What the report says

The United States has imposed new sanctions on a Cambodia-based transnational criminal network accused of running online scam operations, while Kenyan officials and diplomats say the move is also aimed at disrupting groups linked to the trafficking of Kenyans into forced labour. According to the article published by Capital FM and distributed by AllAfrica, the measures were announced on November 5, 2026 and target four people and 41 entities associated with the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organisation.

The network is described as operating scam compounds across Southeast Asia and using cyber-enabled fraud schemes that target victims in the United States and elsewhere. The US Embassy in Nairobi said the sanctions were intended to hit criminal groups that traffic Kenyans and other foreign nationals into online scam centres, where they are allegedly forced to participate in fraud. The embassy said hundreds of Kenyans had been rescued from such centres in Southeast Asia in 2026.

The US State Department said the action follows earlier designations in October 2025 and June 2026 aimed at the same broader network. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is carrying out the sanctions. In a separate action, Washington also sanctioned a Malaysian national accused of running scammers in Madagascar, with US criminal charges unsealed in late October 2026.

For Kenya, the development comes amid wider concern about job-seekers being lured abroad and trapped in exploitative criminal operations. More broadly, the case highlights how cyberfraud and human trafficking are increasingly linked across borders.