Undercover Report Exposes Sprawling Scam Network at Cambodia’s Long Bay

An undercover investigation into a sprawling Cambodian coastal development has exposed new details about the networks surrounding Southeast Asia’s multibillion-dollar cyber-scam industry, including alleged fraud operations, restricted workers, drug use, and unusually close relationships with local police.

Al Jazeera’s 101 East aired the 24-minute investigation on Oct. 10 after reporters posing as representatives of a large online gambling operation gained access to Long Bay, a massive development in Cambodia’s Koh Kong Province controlled by China-born businessman Deng Pibing and his ZhengHeng Group.

Long Bay has been promoted as a “world-class coastal destination for culture and tourism.” Britain, however, sanctioned ZhengHeng Group in December 2023, saying people had been held at Long Bay and forced to work as online scammers.

RELATED: Cambodia’s Park No. 8 Offers Rare Look Inside Southeast Asia’s Scam Industry

Undercover reporters infiltrate Long Bay

Al Jazeera reporters toured offices, dormitories, restaurants, shops, and entertainment facilities inside the development after presenting themselves as prospective operators looking for a new base. According to the investigation, buildings marketed externally as luxury residences were heavily monitored, while some people inside appeared unable to leave freely.

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Deng’s associates told the undercover team that the development offered clients land, property management, security, and other services. The investigation also documented entertainment venues where scam operators allegedly rewarded workers with expensive parties involving alcohol, drugs, and commercial sex.

Perhaps the most striking claims involved Deng’s relationship with local law enforcement. Deng told the undercover reporters that his group had financed construction of a local police station and helped pay officers’ salaries. Al Jazeera also filmed reporters traveling in a police-marked vehicle while being escorted between properties.

Cambodia’s Interior Ministry has since responded to the documentary, while authorities say they are investigating suspected criminal activity associated with Long Bay. Cambodian officials said several buildings at the site were identified in February as suspected online-scam locations, evidence was seized, suspects were detained, and the site was placed under government control.

Authorities also said Deng left Cambodia in late May 2026 and is now under investigation over suspected activities connected to Long Bay.

Deng acknowledges ties to She Zhijiang

The investigation also drew attention to Deng’s relationship with She Zhijiang, the Chinese-born businessman associated with the Shwe Kokko development in Myanmar. Deng told the undercover team that he and She, both originally from Hunan Province, had known each other for more than a decade.

Discussing how powerful networks operate, Deng said people must understand that “there is always someone above you, and a mountain beyond every mountain.” “We are all just characters in a script,” he said. “Don’t disrupt what the director has arranged.” Deng did not explain whom he meant by “the director.”

Al Jazeera juxtaposed the remarks with footage from its 2024 prison interview with She, in which She claimed he had worked for China’s Ministry of State Security and had established his business operations under instructions from the agency. Beijing has not publicly substantiated those claims.

She was extradited from Thailand to China in November 2025 after years of litigation over Chinese allegations that he ran a vast illegal online gambling network.

Longstanding links to Chinese institutions

Deng has also maintained extensive connections with Chinese business and educational institutions. In 2024, his alma mater, Hunan University of Science and Technology, publicly announced that Deng had donated $3 million, roughly 21 million yuan, to establish the “DPB Education Fund.” The university praised his business career and philanthropy during an official visit to Cambodia.

Deng has additionally held positions in overseas Hunanese business associations and worked with Chinese companies involved in projects in Cambodia, illustrating how Southeast Asia’s scam economy was able to operate for years within respectable commercial and overseas-Chinese networks.

The latest investigation also comes amid growing international action against Cambodia-based cyber-fraud operations. U.S. prosecutors last year accused Prince Group founder Chen Zhi of directing forced-labor scam compounds across Cambodia, while Britain and the United States imposed sanctions on his network.