A China-born accused scam boss was extradited from Cambodia, Chinese state media said yesterday, linking him to an alleged kingpin indicted by the US for running a multibillion-dollar cyberscam network from the Southeast Asian nation.
“Investigations found that Li Xiong (李雄), the former chairman of Huione Group under Prince Group, is suspected of multiple crimes,” state-run China Central Television (CCTV) said, with the report calling Li “a core member of Chen Zhi’s (陳志) criminal gang.”
Chen, the founder of Prince Group, was extradited to China from Cambodia in January.
Photo: AFP
Also Chinese-born, Chen had served as an adviser to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father, former leader Hun Sen.
Chen and Li had been granted Cambodian citizenship, which was later revoked by Phnom Penh.
“At present, Li Xiong has been placed under coercive measures according to the law, and the relevant case is under further investigation,” CCTV said.
Across Southeast Asia, organized criminal gangs have used casinos, hotels and fortified compounds as bases to carry out sophisticated online scams, defrauding people around the world through fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investment schemes, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said.
Cambodia hosts dozens of scam centers with tens of thousands of people perpetrating online scams, some willingly and others trafficked, rights monitors say.
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A retired US colonel behind a privately financed rocket launch site in the Dominican Republic sees the project as a response to China’s dominance of the space race in Latin America. Florida-based Launch on Demand is slated to begin building a US$600 million facility in a remote region near the border with Haiti late this year. The project is designed to meet surging demand for the heavy-lift rockets needed to put clusters of satellites into orbit. It is also an answer to China’s growing presence in the region, said CEO Burton Catledge, a former commander of the US Air Force’s 45th Operations
Germany is considering Australia’s Ghost Bat robot fighter as it looks to select a combat drone to modernize its air force, German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius said yesterday. Germany has said it wants to field hundreds of uncrewed fighter jets by 2029, and would make a decision soon as it considers a range of German, European and US projects developing so-called “collaborative combat aircraft.” Australia has said it will integrate the Ghost Bat, jointly developed by Boeing Australia and the Royal Australian Air Force, into its military after a successful weapons test last year. After inspecting the Ghost Bat in Queensland yesterday,
A pro-Iran hacking group claimed to breach FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal e-mail inbox and posted some of the contents online. The e-mails provided by the hacking group include travel details, correspondence with leasing agents in Washington and global entry, and loyalty account numbers. The e-mail address the hackers claim to have compromised has been previously tied to Patel’s personal details, and the leaked e-mails contain photos of Patel and others, in addition to correspondence with family members and colleagues. “The FBI is aware of malicious actors targeting Director Patel’s personal email information,” the agency said in a statement on
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