In the latest case of suspected internet-phone fraud, 63 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals were deported to mainland China via Phnom Penh International Airport on Tuesday afternoon.
A monthslong investigation into the group of suspected scammers led to their arrests in a series of raids on houses in Phnom Pehn’s Chbar Ampov district last month, according to a report released by the Interior Ministry’s immigration department on Tuesday.
The 50 Chinese and 13 Taiwanese nationals were sent to the city of Changshu on a chartered China Southern Airlines flight that took off at 2 p.m.
While the immigration department initially reported 64 arrests, Uk Heisela, its chief of investigations, said that “the initial number was incorrect.”
The group had been using Voice over Internet Protocol phones to target victims in China, according to The Associated Press.
The technology can be used to conceal the origins of calls, making them difficult to trace. Chinese and Taiwanese scammers are routinely arrested and deported in similar cases.
Past attempts by Taipei to have its citizens repatriated have been ignored by Cambodia, which adheres to the controversial “One China” policy.
