U.S. Government Unveils Sweeping Enforcement Actions Against Southeast Asian Scam Centers and Crypto Fraud Networks

## Executive summary — In a coordinated multi-agency operation on April 23, 2026, the DOJ Scam Center Strike Force, OFAC, and the U.S. State Department targeted Southeast Asian cryptocurrency "pig butchering" scam centers: announcing arrests of compound managers, seizure of a Telegram recruitment channel and 503 fraudulent investment domains, OFAC sanctions on 29 Cambodian targets (including Senator Kok An and associated casinos, banks, and front companies), and the restraint of over $701.9 million in cryptocurrency tied to laundering of victim funds, while highlighting the human-trafficking element and implications for on-chain compliance and monitoring.