Cambodian Minister’s Lobbying Spotlights US Anti-Scam Legislation
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Cambodian Minister’s Lobbying Spotlights US Anti-Scam Legislation
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sar Sokha was previously included in draft U.S. legislation to create an anti-cyber-scam task force. His name was removed, but he’s hired a D.C. lawyer anyway.
Banner: Ministry of Information/information.gov.kh
With strong support from both U.S. Republicans and Democrats, legislation is advancing in Washington, D.C., to create a task force to fight the criminal syndicates running global online scams.
On the other side of the world — in a country that has emerged as a major hub for cyber-scams — one politician has lawyered up in response to the proposed legislation, which had named him in a previous draft.
The country is Cambodia and the politician is Sar Sokha, who serves as both deputy prime minister and minister of interior.
“Legal counsel will present evidence demonstrating his innocence and respond to certain reports that lack factual basis and integrity,” said Touch Sokhak, an Interior Ministry spokesperson, in an emailed statement.
Sokha has contracted Robert Seiden, according to filings made in late May under the U.S. Foreign Agent Registration Act, or FARA. Seiden is a New York attorney with ties to former officials with both the administration of President Donald Trump, and his family’s sprawling business, the Trump Organization.
The filings show that Seiden’s firm will provide assistance in communicating with the Treasury Department, which handles sanctions, and it will address the “wrongful inclusion” of Sokha in the bill to create an anti-cyber-scam task force.
In a December session of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Republican Rep. Warren Davidson praised the strong bipartisan support for the bill, saying he had not “found a gap anywhere on this issue.”
At the same session, Indiana Republican Rep. Jefferson Shreve presented a new version of the legislation, which had previously included a list of potential targets for the task force.
The current draft removes the list of dozens of targets. Sokha had been named, along with Cambodia’s Prince Group conglomerate and its chairman, Chen Zhi.
The Treasury Department this week slapped a second round of sanctions on individuals and entities linked to the Prince Group, alleging it had operated scam compounds staffed partly with trafficked workers.
A Prince Group spokesperson has told OCCRP the conglomerate and its chairman are “innocent of the wild and unfounded accusations made by the U.S government.”
When the U.S. imposed its first round of sanctions against the Prince Group last October, the designation list included the Jin Bei Group.
Sokha was a founding director, alongside Chen Zhi, of one of the Jin Bei firms. Sokha ceased being a director of the company in August 2018, and has denied having any investments or links to Jin Bei.
“Regarding his past association with Chen Zhi, it was merely an ordinary social relationship conducted in accordance with the law, no different from the social interactions of other members of the public,” said Sokhak, the Interior Ministry spokesperson.
“As for retaining legal counsel, it is a fundamental right recognized under international law,” Sokhak said, adding that Sokha needs to protect himself from “attempts to associate him with matters in which he has had no involvement.”
The FARA filings show that Sokha agreed to pay Seiden’s firm $150,000, while another firm, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, will receive $135,000.
Seiden told OCCRP in an email that his firm would oversee efforts by Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough to handle congressional lobbying, although he declined to discuss specific issues.
Seiden’s contacts include George Sorial, former executive director of the Trump Organization, as well as Keith Schiller. Previously a Trump White House official, Schiller has also served as chief of security for the Trump Organization.
Seiden is on the advisory board of GreenMet, a company founded by Schiller and Sorial that is involved in trying to mine critical minerals in Greenland.
Sorial and Schiller also launched the D.C. lobbying firm Javelin Advisors LLC, which boasts on its website: “Founded by Insiders. Defined by Access.” Seiden is listed as Javelin’s chief counsel.
Seiden told OCCRP that his firm would handle the Sokha file, and that “Javelin Advisors LLC is not involved in this matter in any way.”
Michelle Kendler-Kretsch, of the Anti-Corruption Data Collective, said the last decade has seen an increase in foreign individuals hiring U.S. lobbying firms.
She called for more transparency, noting that FARA filings are not required to include information such as “the source of funds for six-figure-and-above fees and retainers [and] the exact nature of the lobbying.”