On October 14, the U.S. Treasury Department and the British Foreign Ministry issued a sanctions announcement, including Prince's Group chairman Zhu Liang Bao on the sanctions list. This international law enforcement action against the transnational fraud network in Southeast Asia unexpectedly uncovered the huge asset map hidden by the top leaders of this criminal group for many years. Among them, 29 luxury houses were exposed in Dubai alone, which gave the outside world a glimpse of the huge profits of the criminal empire behind it. scale.
Zhu Zhongbiao's core identity is a key node in the criminal network of Prince Group. The U.S. Treasury Department clearly accused in the sanctions documents that the Jinbei Group he is at the helm is the "most notorious business branch" of the criminal system and has long been involved in fraud, extortion and forced labor. and other illegal activities.
The British authorities have confirmed, Zhu Xiaobo is deeply involved in the operation of multiple fraud centers in Cambodia, building a complete criminal chain through the Kim North Group, from seducing victims to transferring funds.
It is worth noting that in order to avoid law enforcement attacks, Zhu Zhongbiao's identity and background have undergone many changes. In 2017, he obtained Cambodian citizenship, and in September 2018, he obtained Cypriot citizenship with his wife Wang Xiaoyan. However, after the investigation by the Ministry of the Interior last year, the Cypriot government has revoked his and his family's passports, but the details of the investigation have not been disclosed.
With the deepening of international investigation, Zhu Zhongbiao's asset layout across many countries has gradually become clear, among which Dubai's real estate allocation is the most eye-catching.
According to Dubai Real Estate Registration data collected by organized crime and corruption news programs, Zhu Xiaobo concentrated on purchasing at least 29 high-end properties between 2019 and 2022, a period during which he served as Chairman of the Kim Jong-un Group in 2018, a crucial period for the expansion of his criminal business.
These properties are scattered in several top locations in Dubai, including the two-story whole-floor property of Creek Rise Tower2, a luxury apartment building in Dubai Creek Harbor. Because of its close proximity to the Dubai Creek landscape belt, the unit price of this property remains above US $30,000 per square meter all year round;
Multiple rooms in The Dubai Creek Residences, each with an area of more than 150 square meters, with exclusive access to yacht terminals;
HDS Tower near Dubai Terminal. He owns at least 10 apartments in the area, which is one of the central places where the world’s wealthy people are gathering.
What is even more striking is an office apartment located in Tamani Art Office Building. Standing on the balcony, you can directly overlook the panoramic view of Burj Khalifa, a landmark in Dubai. The listing price of this kind of landscape property in Dubai generally exceeds the 10 million dollar mark.
The UAE immigration records show that Zhu Xiaobo is currently registered as a resident of Dubai, and the last time he left the country was in May this year.
Zhu Zhongbiao's wife Wang Xiaoyan built an independent asset matrix in London. As the controlling shareholder of Fuheng Wang Group Ltd in the UK, she has successively purchased 5 luxury properties between 2021 and 2022, with a total value of more than US$6 million.
These include apartments on the 59th floor of the landmark Peak Building in Canary Wharf, one of the iconic buildings in the City of London, with floor-to-ceiling windows that offer panoramic views of the River Thames;
In one of the high-end residential projects near the former Battery Power Station, she purchased three apartments at a time, which became one of the fastest-growing parts of London in recent years due to the upgrading of the area.
These luxury assets all over the world, The UK authorities have identified the group as a core force in the Southeast Asian multinational fraud industry, and in the United States alone, by 2024, people have lost about $10 billion due to the group-related Southeast Asian fraud websites.
Its fraud methods are extremely confusing, Emotional manipulation strategies such as "inducing victims to establish false love relationships" are often used, or investment fraud is carried out in projects such as Jinbei Complex through American assistance forces such as "Brooklyn Network" to trick victims into transferring funds to accounts under their control.
In order to cover up huge criminal proceeds, Prince Group has set up a complex money laundering network composed of more than 100 shell companies, covering British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Mauritius, Singapore and other tax havens. The US Department of Justice recently seized $15 billion in Bitcoin, which is the key carrier of the group's money laundering, and is called "the largest virtual currency seizure in history".
In the international sanctions operation, other key members of the Prince Group, including Kingdom Dan (also known as Wang Hong), who oversaw the group’s investment in Palau, were also spotted alongside Zhu Liang Biao.
A 2022 investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption News Project revealed that Wang Guodan had assisted an underworld tycoon in establishing ties with the former president of Palau, paving the way for the group's illegal business. However, at present, the whereabouts of Chen Zhi, the core leader of Prince Group, are still unknown. The indictment shows that Chen Zhi holds the nationalities of Cambodia, Vanuatu, Saint Lucia and Cyprus, and lives in the UK all the year round.
British authorities have taken asset freezing measures and seized 19 properties of Chen Zhi and his associates in London, including a villa worth $16 million and an office building valued at $133 million, in an attempt to reduce their living space by cutting off the capital chain.
U.S. officials revealed that the core operation center of Prince Group is located in Cambodia, and its business often wanders between illegal and legal, which brings great challenges to international joint law enforcement.
From Cambodian scam centers to luxurious apartments in Dubai, Zhuangpu’s asset map and crime trajectory are highly overlapped, and the 29 luxury houses in Dubai are not only the footprints of its luxurious life, but also the direct evidence of the multinational crime group’s profits.
At present, international law enforcement agencies are still tracking Zhu Zhongbiao's whereabouts and unexposed assets. This crackdown on transnational fraud networks has also gradually exposed the criminal chain hidden under the appearance of luxury to the sun.
This also reminds us that there will be no pie in the sky, and there are probably huge traps behind those inexplicable "warmth" and "profiteering opportunities" on the Internet. At the same time, we also hope that there will be more international cooperation to find out these scourges, let them get the punishment they deserve and minimize the losses of the victims. What do you think about this case? Please chat in the comment area.
Official sources and links
The high-level fraud group exposed huge assets related reports:
http://m.toutiao.com/group/7562810604394758690/?upstream_biz=doubaoZhu Zhongbiao Industrial and Commercial Information Inquiry:
https://m.qcc.com/firm/2ea8a4fcb572f253aa685d94c3e66941.html