US lawmakers name Vorapak among 28 targets in Sept 15 scam sanctions request

US House committee chairmen Brian Mast and John Moolenaar asked the Trump administration on Tuesday (September 15, 2026) to investigate 28 people and entities for possible sanctions over alleged links to Southeast Asian scam operations. Their letter, issued in Washington, names Thai financier Vorapak Tanyawong among those proposed for investigation.

Mast, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, addressed their request to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Copies went to the US attorney general and homeland security secretary.
 

The lawmakers’ September 15 letter requests a determination within 180 days on whether the named individuals and entities meet the legal criteria for sanctions. Mast and Moolenaar argue that action against those found to qualify would help deter online fraud, human trafficking and the political and financial support sustaining scam operations.

Vorapak, a former senior executive in Thailand’s banking and finance sector, is among those named in the request for US sanctions against regional scam networks. His inclusion represents a request for investigation and possible sanctions, rather than a determination that he committed an offence.

Vorapak appears among 28 names submitted for investigation

The September 15 letter lists 26 individuals and two business entities. The names below follow the document’s order and spelling; inclusion in the list does not establish wrongdoing.

• Benjamin Mauerberger
• Chou Bun Eng, permanent vice-chair of Cambodia’s National Committee for Counter Trafficking in Persons, a role identified in March 2026 reporting
• Deng Pibing
• Dy Vichea, deputy chief of Cambodia’s National Police and Hun Sen’s son-in-law
• Edward Lee
• Eugene Tang
• Gabriel Tan
• Honn Sorachna
• Hun To, a Cambodian businessman and Hun Sen’s nephew
• Kuoch Chamrouen, Kandal provincial governor and a former governor of Preah Sihanouk
• Li Xiong
• Long Dimanche, deputy governor of Preah Sihanouk
• Ma Dongli
• Michael Chiam
• Mote Thun
• Neth Savoeun, Cambodia’s deputy prime minister and former national police chief
• Sar Sokha, Cambodia’s interior minister
• Su Zhongkian
• Vorapak Tanyawong, a former senior Thai banking and finance executive
• Wang Liduan
• Yan Borith
• Yan Narong
• Yan Sathya
• Yim Leak, Cambodian government adviser and businessman
• Yu Lingxiong
• Zhong Baojia, also known as Wang Qiang
• Fully Light Group of Companies, LTD
• White Sands Palace Casino, in Cambodia

US letter alleges mass trafficking in Southeast Asian scam centres

Mast and Moolenaar attribute growing financial losses among Americans largely to Chinese transnational criminal organisations operating industrial-scale scam compounds in Southeast Asia. Their letter describes cryptocurrency investment fraud, commonly called “pig butchering”, alongside romance scams and other forms of psychological manipulation.

The September 15 congressional letter estimates that approximately 400,000 trafficking victims from more than 70 countries are held in Southeast Asian scam centres. Mast and Moolenaar describe people being recruited through deception or coercion, confined in prison-like compounds and forced to commit online fraud under threats of violence, torture and sometimes death.

For the Mekong subregion, Mast and Moolenaar cite estimates that cyber-scam profits were equivalent to nearly 40% of combined formal gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024. The figure is presented as an estimate cited by the lawmakers.

Citing The Economist’s February 2025 reporting, Mast and Moolenaar argue that criminal wealth has enabled fraud networks to corrupt governments, creating the cyber-scam equivalent of narco-states. The letter also cites the magazine’s assessment that worldwide online-fraud proceeds may rival those of the illegal drugs trade.

Lawmakers challenge Myanmar and Cambodia’s scam crackdowns

Mast and Moolenaar allege that corrupt officials in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos have tolerated scam operations on a large scale. Their letter questions whether publicised enforcement campaigns have dismantled the structures protecting the industry.

Myanmar: Mast and Moolenaar contrast the military’s widely publicised operations against Shwe Kokko and KK Park with the continued emergence of scam centres along the Thai–Myanmar border. Their letter cites Associated Press reporting from June 2026 that at least 25 new sites had appeared since autumn 2025.

Cambodia: The congressional letter cites an estimate that scam profits may equal 60% of the country’s formal GDP. Mast and Moolenaar refer to investigations alleging that political elites and government officials protect or profit from scam operations, while official investigations have failed to stop widespread abuses.

Mast and Moolenaar also allege that trafficking victims who escape Southeast Asian scam compounds are being imprisoned or deported as illegal immigrants instead of receiving protection as trafficking survivors. The lawmakers argue that such treatment compounds the abuse suffered by people forced into criminal activity.

Possible US sanctions depend on further government decisions

Mast and Moolenaar ask US authorities to assess the listed names under several existing sanctions frameworks. Their request makes sanctions conditional on the authorities determining that the relevant legal criteria are met.

The legal measures discussed in the letter include:

• Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act: The lawmakers cite powers to sanction foreign persons responsible for serious human rights violations or significant corruption, including qualifying involvement in or assistance to such conduct.
• Executive Order 14390: President Donald Trump’s March 2026 order directs action against cybercrime and fraud targeting Americans. Its international measures include restrictions on foreign assistance, targeted sanctions, visa restrictions, trade penalties and, where appropriate, the expulsion of complicit foreign officials and diplomats, consistent with US law. The measures are set out in the published executive order.
• Other sanctions regulations: The letter identifies the Burma Sanctions Regulations under 31 CFR Part 525, Cyber-Related Sanctions Regulations under Part 578 and Transnational Criminal Organizations Sanctions Regulations under Part 590.

For the named parties and financial institutions dealing with them, any restrictions arising from this request would depend on subsequent US decisions and the scope of the measures adopted. The September 15 letter itself imposes no financial or visa penalties.