Cambodia’s government on Wednesday said that it had arrested and extradited to China a tycoon who has been accused of running a huge online scam operation.
The Cambodian Ministry of the Interior said that Prince Holding Group chairman Chen Zhi (陳志) and two other Chinese citizens were arrested and extradited on Tuesday at the request of Chinese authorities.
Chen formerly had dual nationality, but his Cambodian citizenship was revoked last month, the ministry said.
Photo grab from Prince Holding Group official website
US prosecutors in October last year brought conspiracy charges against Chen, alleging that he had been the mastermind behind a multinational cyberfraud network, used his other businesses to launder its profits and sanctioned violence against workers.
Prince Holding Group had claimed to be getting US$30 million a day from the scams, the indictment said.
The US Department of the Treasury and the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office imposed sanctions, while authorities also seized Chen’s assets, which included properties worth at least US$100 million and US$14 billion in cryptocurrency.
Photo: AFP
Scam centers have proliferated across Southeast Asia, swindling money by persuading people to join bogus investment schemes.
According to estimates from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, scam victims worldwide lost between US$18 billion and US$37 billion in 2023.
The US and the UK imposed sanctions against Chen, 38, and his companies’ legitimate involvements, which were primarily involved in real-estate development and financial services.
US authorities also seized what they said was an estimated US$14 billion in bitcoin linked to Chen or his operations.
They have charged him with wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies.
He has been accused of sanctioning violence against workers, authorizing bribes to foreign officials and using his other businesses, such as online gambling and cryptocurrency mining, to launder illicit profits.
Prosecutors in the US said that his organization scammed 250 Americans out of millions of dollars, with one losing US$400,000 in cryptocurrency.
In 2024, Americans lost at least US$10 billion to Southeast Asia-based scams, treasury department data showed.
British authorities froze Chen’s British businesses and assets, including a 12 million euro (US$14 million) mansion and a 100 million euro office building in London.
Other authorities followed. Singapore launched an investigation on Oct. 30 last year after announcing the seizure of financial assets belonging to Chen of more than S$150 million (US$117 million) and a yacht.
In Taiwan, police seized 26 luxury vehicles, including a Ferrari, a Bugatti and a Porsche, while Hong Kong police seized financial assets.
All three authorities launched investigations into Chen.
However, Chen was prepared to fight, issuing a statement via lawyers in November last year, that “the Prince Group categorically rejects the notion that it or its chairman has engaged in any unlawful activity.”
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