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LAOS
GI-TOC flagged
FRAUD TYPES
Compounds, forced labor, gambling, money laundering
KEY FACTS
Golden Triangle SEZ controlled by sanctioned Zhao Wei. Expanding operations. 74% of compounds in Mekong region.
REPORT FRAUD IN LAOS1▸
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BORN HERE▸
Nobody in our case files was born in Laos yet.
OPERATED HERE▸
Nobody in our case files is documented as operating from Laos yet.
FRAUD METHODS TIED HERE2▸
From the Global Fraud Encyclopedia and the cases above. Tap a method for its page.
#1 Pig Butchering (Romance-Investment Scam)Encyclopedia ▸#7 Money LaunderingEncyclopedia ▸KNOWN FOR▸
THE PICTURE▸
Laos' main fraud exposure is the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ) in Bokeo province, a casino enclave on a 99-year lease to Chinese businessman Zhao Wei, which hosts online scam centres staffed partly by trafficked workers (Crisis Group; Bloomberg, 2024). The US sanctioned Zhao Wei's network as a transnational criminal organisation in 2018 and the UK sanctioned him in 2023 over trafficking people into scam work (US Treasury, 2018; UK government, 2023). After a government ultimatum, Lao and Chinese police raided the zone in August 2024 and detained 771 people, but the Kings Romans casino kept operating and Zhao received a Lao state medal in December 2024 (RFA, 2024; The Diplomat, Dec 2024).
TOP FRAUDSTERS FROM HERE1▸
Zhao Wei SANCTIONEDREPORT PENDING
n/a (sanctions designation) · 2018–2023
Chairman of Kings Romans and the Golden Triangle SEZ, sanctioned by the US and UK over drug trafficking, money laundering and trafficking people into scam work; he has not been charged in Laos.
SOURCE: US Treasury (Jan 2018); UK sanctions list (Dec 2023)
FRAUD BY CATEGORY▸
No official body here publishes a breakdown of fraud by type, so we show none rather than guess.
KEY NUMBERS▸
771 People detained in Lao raids on GTSEZ scam centres, August 2024 (Lao Ministry of Public Security via RFA, Aug 2024)
99 years Length of the GTSEZ land lease granted to Zhao Wei's company in 2007 (Wikipedia / Crisis Group)
WHO FIGHTS IT▸
Lao government ordered all GTSEZ scam centres shut by 25 Aug 2024; joint Lao-Chinese raids on 9 and 12 Aug 2024.
US OFAC designated the Zhao Wei Transnational Criminal Organisation (2018); UK sanctioned Zhao Wei and Su Guiqin (2023).
Laos was placed on the FATF grey list (increased monitoring) in February 2025.
SOURCES▸
Radio Free Asia, Aug 2024 and Dec 2024
The Diplomat, Aug 2024 and Dec 2024
International Crisis Group, GTSEZ report
Bloomberg, 2024
Wikipedia, 'Zhao Wei (businessman)', accessed Sep 2026
FATF plenary outcomes, Feb 2025
Case lists and figures compiled September 2026 from court records, regulators and major press; statuses change. Series reports above are fact-checked case files.