AMBENO (TOP) - Timor-Leste is currently not only famous for its foreign policy strategy that is leaning towards various regional blocks in the world and the Asian region, but also famous for its possibility and tendency to "turn" into a "Warehouse" of Scam Call Center and Online Gambling in Southeast Asia.
After Scam Call Center and Online Gambing collapsed in Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Philippines, according to information accessed by The Oe-Kusi Post (TOP), transnational crime networks began to look for new ways (places) to conduct their operations. There were several efforts to enter directly into the capital of Dili, but failed. Thus, they found a pothole road in the Special Administrative Region of Oe-Kusi Ambeno (RAEOA) in 2024.
The problem begins in December 2024, when Timor-Leste establishes the Oe-Cusse Digital Center — a "digital free trade zone" in Oe-Cusse-Ambeno, an enclave surrounded entirely by Indonesian territory.
Regulatory vulnerabilities in this new free trade zone create conditions that could allow organized crime to operate under the guise of legitimate foreign investment.
In April 2025, the government issued its first offshore gaming license to Golden River Universe (GRU), a subsidiary linked to Grand Dragon Lottery, which plans to move operations there from Cambodia and the Philippines.
In August 2025, The Oe-Kusi Post (TOP) cover directly the PNTL RAEOA and the security authority team from Dili search and seize the first Scam Call Center and Online Gaming at the Oe-Upu Hotel.
During the search and seizure process, security authorities encountered a scenario similar to centers established elsewhere in Southeast Asia — desks filled with computer monitors , mostly women from Indonesia, China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Starlink satellite devices and SIM cards were seized, and six low-level employees were arrested.
“An insider said the scammers posed as online sellers of beauty products, took customers’ money, and never delivered the goods — mainly targeting Brazilian and Indonesian women,” a worker told The Oe-Kusi Post (TOP) in Hotel Oe-Upu on Monday, August 25, 2020: 21:00 PM.
According to the UN report, the people who established the first Scam Call Center and Online Gaming at the Oe-Upu hotel have links to China's 14K Triad — a group long associated with online fraud activities in Southeast Asia — as well as links to the fraud compound in Cambodia.
Timor-Leste has been the focus of several reports since August 2025 indicating an alleged effort by Chinese organized crime groups linked to smuggling compounds in Cambodia to infiltrate Timor-Leste.
The following is a condensed timeline of events over the last 20 months that led to these findings.
In December 2024, President of the Authority for the Special Administrative Region of Oe-Kusi Ambeno (RAEOA), Rogério Tiago de Fátima Lobato signed a memorandum of understanding with two (2) entities to establish the Oe-Cusse Digital Centre and the national digital ID project.
The proposed ID project is led by Zchwantech Titan Lda, a Malaysian company. The Oe-Cusse Ambeno agreement was signed two months after the company’s CEO, Dato' Seow Gim Shen, was sentenced to 14 weeks in a Singapore prison on October 24, 2024 for conspiring to sell the personal data of 9,369 Singaporeans to illegal gambling and cybercrime platforms.
The creation of the Oecusse Digital Center at the "Oe-Upu"/"Dream City" Hotel is led by Core Management Corporation (CMC). CMC’s CEO is Ken Lim, who is also the managing director of the Timor-Lodge Hotel and Residence in Dili. CMC’s managing director is Vincent Yeoh.
On August 19, 2024, the President of the Authority for the Special Administrative Region of Oe-Cusse Ambeno (RAEOA), Rogério Tiago de Fátima Lobato, accompanied by the Coordinator of the Executive Commission of the Special Economic Zone for the Development of Oe-Cusse Ambenu (Ambenu-Ambenu-ZEEOA), celebrated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Golde River Universe led by Founder & CEO Datuk Harry Ng and his team in the meeting room of the office of the President of the Authority, Oebau, RAEOA.
According to information that The Oe-Kusi Post (TOP) accessed from the official page of RAEOA that, signed a MoU between the company Golde River Universe (GRU) to open the way to invest in the hotel sector in RAEOA. While during the discussion, there was also a decision between the two parties to rehabilitate the hotel Oe-Upu, Oe-Cusse Ambeno.
And on April 11, 2025, the General Inspectorate of Gambling and Lottery in the capital Dili, signed a national concession contract with Golden River Universe Lda, led by Datuk Harry Ng from Malaysia.
The concession contract was signed and officially awarded by Francisco Kalbuadi Lay, Vice-Prime-Minister and Minister Coordinator for Economic Affairs.
The agreement designates GRU as the first authorized offshore gaming operator in Timor-Leste and concludes eight months of regulatory collaboration with the General Gambling Inspectorate (IGJ) to establish a safe, transparent, and globally compliant offshore gaming framework.
"This is not only an important license but a strategic instrument for national transformation," said Datuk Harry Ng, CEO of GRU to journalists in Dili on April 11, 2025.
"We are very honored by the trust placed in us and we are ready to transform this vision into real progress for Timor-Leste."
GRU’s offshore gaming ecosystem will operate under the full regulatory oversight of the IGJ, prioritizing compliance, digital infrastructure integrity, and responsible governance. The concession positions Timor-Leste as a thriving center in the international gaming sector, opening new avenues for investment, job creation, and innovation.
This development follows GRU's Memorandum of Understanding with the RAEOA Authority signed on 19 August 2024, which lays the foundation for the establishment of a centralized beach play centre.
GRU's mission is to transform Timor-Leste into the "Malta of Asia" for offshore gaming by building a legal, transparent, and fully regulated ecosystem under the supervision of the General Gambling Inspectorate (IGJ).
The concession grants a license for offshore gaming that allows Golden River Universe to establish “Grand Dragon” gambling sites throughout Dili, with its main center planned for Timor Plaza.
After the joint team dismantled the Scam Call Center and Online Game at Hotel Oe-Upu, and on October 2, 2025, the Government of Timor-Leste issued Government Resolution No. 54/2025, announcing the immediate revocation of all concessions, licenses, and authorizations related to online gaming and betting operations.
“With this decision, Golden River Universe Lda (GRU) wants to clarify with respect its position,” The Oe-Kusi Post accessed the statement on GRU's official website.
GRU said, in August 2024, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with RAEOA for the rehabilitation and operation of the Oe-Upu hotel as part of a long-term beach investment project.
“However, later RAEOA decided to transfer the management and operation of the Oe-Upu hotel to another company. As a result, GRU never started any operation in Oe-Cusse Ambeno.
The GRU also further stated that, in April 2025, a license was obtained from the Gambling Inspectorate. However, the company remains rigorously in the preparation and coordination phase in Dili. No commercial operations have been launched, no customers are involved, and no employees are employed for gambling activities.
GRU fully respects the sovereign decision of the Government of Timor-Leste as set out in Resolution No. 54/2025.
The Company recognizes the importance of strong compliance and transparent governance, and reaffirms its commitment to align with future legal and regulatory frameworks set by the Government.
GRU wishes to conclude that no players, partners, or employees are affected, as the company has not conducted any active business in the gambling sector in Timor-Leste.
“We thank the Government, the public, and our stakeholders for their attention and understanding.The GRU remains open to contribute positively to the future development of the country once a revised legal framework is enacted.
After this, on July 7, 2025, the President of the Authority for RAEOA, Rogério Tiago de Fátima Lobato and Lim officially launched the Oe-Cusse Digital Center which will be built after the lagoon (rawa-rawa) in front of the Oe-Upu Hotel with a total of 141 hectares.
The dream of draining the lagoon failed to come true, because on August 25, 2025, a joint security team raided the Oe-Upu Hotel, where they arrested 30 citizens from the People's Republic of China, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia who were allegedly conducting cyber operations.
Authorities seized computers and internet infrastructure, including the StarLink system. During the assault, unidentified people cut the electricity wire to darken the entire Oe-Upu hotel to divert capture by the security team.
After the robbery and arrest at the Oe-Upu hotel, on 11 September 2025, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned that foreign criminal syndicates had infiltrated Timor-Leste to establish scam compounds similar to those in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
The agency reported that the entities, later publicly identified as CMC and Golden River Universe/Grand Dragon, were suspected of having ties to the 14K Triad and its leader, Wan Kuok-koi, also known as “Broken Tooth”.
Ten days later, on September 21, 2025, Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Hermenegildo Pereira published a post on Facebook alleging that foreign criminal syndicates brought $45 million to Timor-Leste by private jet to bribe members of the government to approve their operations.
Thus, on October 1, 2025, the National Parliament voted to cancel all licenses related to gambling activities, and Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão himself participated in the authorities' closure of the Grand Dragon lottery booth.
On the basis of Parliament's vote to cancel gambling activities, on December 10, 2025, PNTL searched the office of Venture Tower ETO Tower in Colmera-Dili.
The company is reportedly run by Stevens Admijojo and former Agencia LUSA Portugal journalist António Sampaio, who has reportedly lobbied for Chinese-backed investment projects.
A statement by a FRETILIN opposition faction in December in the National Parliament that "these searches do not deviate from what the United Nations report describes as transnational crimes such as scams and other cyber frauds hidden behind online games... our officials bought from the mafia" under the older generation”, referring to the older generation’s top leadership, which includes the President and the Prime Minister.
However, the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister have all publicly declared that they do not believe the allegations made in the UNODC report.
On April 6, 2026, The Guardian and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) published news alleging that a Chinese businessman named Lin Xiaofan alias Frank Lin, donated $500,000 to the President of the Republic's charity activities before receiving his diplomatic passport.
Frank Lin has promoted the proposed AB Digital Technology Resort near Dili airport. Making land approved for the project.
The Guardian and Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) also linked three individuals in the venture to the US- and UK-sanctioned Prince Group, which is accused of running multibillion-dollar cyber-fraud operations out of Cambodia.
President of the Republic, José Ramos-Horta responded to the news of the accusation that "We can not make baseless allegations against people just because they come from Asia, as all people from Asian countries are linked to organized crime. This is a big mistake. Frank Lin did not do anything wrong in Timor-Leste," the President replied.
He added that “Right now, I don’t see any organized crime installed in Timor-Leste.” Nevertheless, The Guardian reported on April 8 that the Australian Federal Police had confirmed it was “increasing its focus on cybercrime and digital forensic capability development within the region in response to the threat of online fraud hubs.”
The discovery of Chinese citizens still inside the Oe-Upu Hotel in Oe-Kusi Ambeno happened five days later.
Two days after The Oe-Kusi Post (TOP) and Financial Crime Digest discovered three Chinese citizens who were still staying inside the Oe-Upu Hotel, the PNTL announced the arrest of three Chinese citizens and one Indonesian citizen who were accused of importing counterfeit $4 million in US dollars.
Police identified the suspects as an executive, manager, and warehouse manager at the Y&W supermarket in Dili.
Two additional suspects reportedly fled to Bali on 19 April. Police said they were unable to stop the plane before it took off. It is not clear why Indonesian authorities were not alerted in time to make the arrests when they arrived.
Member of Parliament from opposition party Maria Angelica Rangel, said in the National Parliament on April 21, 2026 that the latest developments are "damaging our economy, damaging the lives of our people, and damaging the image of the RDTL", and criticized officials who rejected the findings of the UNODC as "false and uncredible", warning that "some of the warnings" those that are operandi used for money laundering or bribery.”
The MP asked the authorities to investigate allegations that powerful figures in the country are colluding with foreign criminal syndicates to obtain better real estate for developments such as the AB Digital Technology Resort.
Scam Call Center and Online Game started at Oe-Upu Hotel in August 2024 and entered 2026 as in June, PNTL continued to close another illegal call center at a hotel near Tibar on Friday 26 June 2026, to detain some foreigners from Indonesian and Cambodia who was caught running a phone-based scam. Investigators believe the operation has been running since around January or February 2026, and seized equipment, phones and laptops and Starlink.
A few weeks later, on Thursday morning, July 9, 2026, a joint team of the Secret Service of the PNTL, the National Strategic Intelligence Service (SNIE) and the Scientific Criminal Investigation Police (PCIC) secured 99 foreign citizens suspected of involvement in online gambling activities.
The team managed to break this large network because it is suspected of illegal online gambling activities and Scam Call Center located in Bebonuk of Dili Municipality.
During the operation, the team identified the large group using advanced technology to operate in the capital Dili. The team also seized evidence of many electronic items, including 88 computers, 13 laptops and nearly 100 mobile phones.
After the collapse, the team immediately identified 99 people to be submitted to the investigation process and then processed to the Public Prosecution.This operation shows the seriousness of the Government and the security forces of Timor-Leste to fight transnational crime that is trying to flourish in our country.
Authorities have not provided details on the identities of those arrested and have not confirmed official charges against the suspects, as the case remains under investigation.
Why is Timor-Leste a target for Scam Call Centers and Online Games?
Experts point to several factors such as porous borders, weak police capacity, a cash-based economy, and the fact that Cambodia uses the US dollar, making it easy for criminals to move and launder money internationally. Central Bank governors note that dirty money can be “cleaned” once it enters Timor-Leste’s system and then moves freely.
What is Scam Call Center and Online Game?
A Scam Call Center is a fraudulent operation designed to trick victims into sending money or providing personal information using fraudulent mobile phone contacts or internet calls. The phrase “Scam Call Center and Online Game” probably refers to two distinct but related concepts in the digital world.
Scam Call Center (Illegal Fraud Operation)
Unlike legitimate customer service centers, these are criminal syndicates that operate on a large scale.
Workers are trained to impersonate government officials (e.g., tax agencies, police personnel, prosecutors, judges and so on), bank representatives, or some technical support. They fabricate crises (such as a hacked fake computer or an arrest warrant) to cause panic and demand immediate payment via wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or gift cards.
- "Pig Butchery": A prevalent scam where scammers build fake online relationships over weeks or months to manipulate targets into fraudulent cryptocurrency investments.
Locations: Many are sprawling compounds heavily guarded by armed syndicates in places like Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, often using forced labor.
"Scam Call Center" as an Online/Video Game
The phrase can also refer to satirical video games or management simulators (such as Scam Center Simulator or Skam) available on platforms like Steam and Roblox.
- Concept: In these games, the player acts as a manager of an underground scam compound or a new employee trying to build a fraudulent empire to survive.
- Controversy: While some games approach the subject as dark, management-style humour, they draw criticism from real-life survivors and anti-fraud advocates who argue that they trivialize human trafficking and serious financial crime.
List of efforts of the government of Timor-Leste through joint security teams such as PNTL and PCIC that have been capturing the Scam Call Center and Online Game networks in the national territory;
- August 19, 2024, the President of the Authority for the Special Administrative Region of Oe-Cusse Ambenu (RAEOA), Rogério Tiago de Fátima Lobato, accompanied by the Coordinator of the Executive Commission of the Special Economic Zone for the Development of Oe-Cusse-Ambenu (AKE), Gonçalves celebrated the signing of a Memorandum Of Undertanding (MoU) with Golde River Universe.
- 11 April 2025, the General Inspectorate of Gambling and Lottery in the capital Dili, signed a national concession contract with Golden River Universe Lda, led by Datuk Harry Ng from Malaysia.
- July 7, 2025, President of the RAEOA Authority, Rogério Tiago de Fátima Lobato and Lim officially launched the Oe-Cusse Digital Center
- Monday, August 25, 2025 at 21:00 pm security authorities demolished the Oe-Upu Hotel in Oe-Kusi Ambeno which is suspected to be turned into a Scam Call Center and Online Game
- 11 September 2025, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned that foreign criminal syndicates had infiltrated Timor-Leste to establish scam compounds similar to those in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar
- Ten days later, on September 21, 2025, Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Hermenegildo Pereira published a post on Facebook alleging that foreign criminal syndicates brought $45 million to Timor-Leste by private plane to bribe government members to approve its operating license.
- October 1st, 2025, the National Parliament voted to cancel all licenses related to gambling activities, and Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão himself participated in the authorities' closure of the Grand Dragon lottery booth
- 2ndOctober 2025, the Government of Timor-Leste issued Government Resolution No. 54/2025, announcing the immediate revocation of all concessions, licenses, and authorizations related to the operation of online gambling and betting
- December 10, 2025, PNTL will search the office of Venture Tower ETO Tower in Colmera-Dili
- Friday 26 June 2026, Police raided a Scam Call Center and Online Game at a hotel in Tibar.
- July 9, 2026, security authorities raided and arrested nearly 100 foreign citizens in Manleuana and Bebonuk, suspected of involvement in Scam Call Center and Online Game operations.
