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Chen Zhi, a Chinese-Cambodian businessman, was accused by the United States and Britain of being the mastermind of a transnational criminal group. The "Prince Group" controlled by him was suspected of digital currency fraud, human trafficking and money laundering, involving tens of billions of dollars. The United States, Britain, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan Province have frozen their assets and launched investigations. Chen Zhi's whereabouts are unknown. This case reveals the deep interweaving of cybercrime with regional economies. Mainland netizens hope to decipher whose "prince" Chen Zhi is as soon as possible.
1. The Beijing News reported that Thailand thoroughly investigated the "Prince Group" attacked by the United States and Britain, and the transnational investigation focused on Cambodian businessman Chen Zhi.
Chen Zhi, a Cambodian Chinese businessman, owner of the Prince Group, model of youth and social responsibility, who has been investigated and accused of leading the largest digital fraud network and trafficking group in Asia.
In the national anti-fraud campaign, many kind-hearted compatriots were defrauded of money and even lost their lives by online fraud gangs in Myanmar, Cambodia and other places because they were unable to identify scams. Under the background that some law-abiding small businessmen and citizens normally sell goods and second-hand goods, and after delivering and collecting money, they don't know that they have become a part of fraudsters' money laundering and their payment is frozen, Prince Group and Chen Zhi have become the focus and hot topic of continuous discussion on Chinese We Media platforms in the past two weeks.
Although Saburo has always been obsessed with studying the economy, the gray economy and the black economy are also one aspect of the macro economy, and they are intertwined with the legal economy on the table. Therefore, he naturally pays great attention to the growing phenomenon represented by the two hot words Prince Group and Chen Zhi.
But because the incident was caused by the United States and the United Kingdom first hit, our officials have not yet had a clear statement (per in the secret investigation, in order to avoid grinding the protection net behind the scourge Chen Zhi is not convenient to disclose), Saro has always dared to publicly comment on this hot spot.
It was not until the official media and Beijing News Network, a subsidiary of Beijing Daily, publicly reported that Thailand had thoroughly investigated the "Prince Group"(see picture above) and that the transnational investigation focused on Cambodia businessmen that Saburo thought he should be able to comment.
The 37-year-old Cambodian Chinese-born businessman Chen Zhi is the behind-the-scenes of a massive cyber fraud known as a “criminal empire built on human suffering.”
According to a report released by BBC, the U.S. Department of Justice has accused Chen of operating a park of human trafficking and cyber fraud in Cambodia, stealing billions of dollars of digital currency from victims around the world. The U.S. Treasury also announced the confiscation of about $14 billion of Bitcoin associated with him, the largest such confiscation in the history of cryptocurrency.
The "Prince Empire", which has risen for ten years, was once regarded as a model for youth and social responsibility.
Born in southeastern China's Fujian province, Chen Zhi initially worked for a small online gaming company before moving to Cambodia in 2011 to enter the then-booming real estate market. His arrival coincides with a wave of investment under China's Belt and Road Initiative, which has turned the capital Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville into a jungle of glass skyscrapers and luxury hotel projects.
In 2014, he gained Cambodian citizenship by donating at least $250,000 to the government, allowing him to purchase land in his own name. In 2019, he received $2 million from an unknown uncle to launch his first real estate project, bank documents show, without providing evidence of where the funds came from.
The public information shows that he entered the Cambodian market in 2009 and formally established the "Prince Group" in 2015, creating a business map covering real estate, finance, energy, communications and banking in just a decade.
On the website of his company, Prince Group, and on the official websites of some official media in recent years, Chen Zhi has been promoted as a respected entrepreneur and well-known philanthropist. His vision is that the group is "committed to complying with international standards." Chen Zhi not only became a social celebrity in Cambodia, Prince Group became a multinational group, and Chen Zhi and Prince Group also won honorary titles such as youth role model and social responsibility model in mainland China.
The rapid expansion of the Prince Group and Chen's remarkable political influence have not left the back of money.
The “Prince Group” was founded in 2015 when Chen was only 27 years old and his business was focused on real estate development. In 2018, he obtained a bank license and founded the “Prince Bank” and in the same year he also obtained a Cyprus passport through an investment of $2.5 million, allowing him to freely enter the EU and subsequently obtained Vanuatu citizenship.
U.S. and British authorities believe Chen Zhi is the mastermind behind a complex criminal organization (Prince's Group)
The BBC added that Chen expanded his business to aviation and large-scale business projects, founding the third airline in Cambodia and obtaining a license to operate the fourth airline in 2020.
In 2020, the King of Cambodia awarded Chen Zhi the highest title "Order of Okna" after donating at least US$500,000. Since 2017, he has served as an adviser to Home Minister Shao Keng, is a business partner with Sa Keng's son, is also an adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen, and later becomes an adviser to Hun Sen's son Hong Manai after taking office in 2023. Local media praised him as a "national philanthropist" who donated money to scholarships and contributed to the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.
Interestingly, Chen Zhizi is also active in some organizations and media in mainland China, and has been awarded some honors by them. However, according to the unspoken rules of these organizations and media awarding such honors, Chen Zhi or Prince Group may have a monetary donation relationship with these organizations and media.
Although he is so active in politics and media, Chen Zhi remains a mysterious figure who rarely makes public appearances or statements.
The Prince Group and Chen are now facing complex multinational networks and multinational crime charges.
According to the BBC, with the bursting of the real estate bubble in Sihanoukville in 2019 and the collapse of the online gambling business that attracted Chinese capital, Chen Zhi's gray, black economic empire began to be shrouded in doubt. After Cambodia banned online gambling under pressure from big powers, some 450,000 Chinese left the city, leaving vacant residential buildings and stalled projects.
But even so, Chen Zhi continued to expand investment at home and abroad. British authorities pointed out that he purchased a $15 million mansion in north London in 2019 and a $120 million office building in the financial district. U.S. authorities said he also owned New York property, a private jet, a yacht and an original Picasso.
According to CBS reports, U.S. and UK authorities have imposed sanctions on 128 companies and 17 individuals from seven different nationalities linked to Chen and his group, accusing them of money laundering, human trafficking and operating “telephone farms” for cyber fraud.
Journalist Jack Adamovic Davies, who reported on Chen Zhi for three years for Radio Free Asia, quoted witnesses as saying that staff at the group's Golden Fortune Technology Park were "tortured and savagely beaten" if they tried to escape. He added: "The scale of the business Chen Zhi runs makes him unique and disturbing. How did he build such a huge network of black products without alerting anyone?"
Cheating networks led by Chen Chen stole huge amounts of bitcoin worth about $14 billion.
After the United States and Britain announced sanctions, financial institutions in Asia quickly froze assets related to "Prince Group".
On October 17, Thailand’s Justice Minister, Rutapon Navolathan, said Prime Minister Anutin had ordered a special working group to investigate in-depth the case of the “Prince Group” and its local branches suspected of multinational fraud and money laundering. The “Task Force to Combat Telecommunications Fraud and Cybersecurity Crime” led directly by Prime Minister Anutin held its first meeting on October 20 to focus on the group’s financial flows and associated networks in Thailand.
The South Korean Central Daily that, following the U.S. and British sanctions on the Prince Group, its owners and 144 associated entities, periodic deposits worth 91.2 billion yuan ($64 million) ($92.2 billion) ($9.2 billion) in deposits held by Prince Group and Chen Zhi in Korean-run PPC bank, KB Prasac Bank, Friendly Bank of Cambodia, Bank of New Korea of Cambodia and DGB Cambodia have been frozen.
The Strait Times on October 24 that the U.S. judiciary had named several entities linked to Hong Kong in the charges. A HK01 investigation found that Chen controls three Hong Kong listed companies in China and owns an entire commercial building and a mountain-top villa. Authorities in several jurisdictions have launched investigations, while the officials in Hong Kong have not issued any substantial comments. Chen and his partners, three listed companies with major shareholders, Geotech Holdings (1707) , Khoon Group (0924) and FMS Holdings (1721) have continued their transactions without interruption.
But local authorities in China Taiwan confirmed that Chen Zhi had made multiple trips to the island, where he founded several companies and purchased 11 luxury apartments at the Peace Palace. The local authority has taken the initiative to contact the FBI, and the case is currently under the responsibility of the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office.
The Strait Times that the Singapore Financial Authority said it was investigating local companies linked to the Prince Group.
The BBC said the Cambodia government remained silent and only called for ensuring sufficient evidence before charges were made. However, observers believe that after years of close relations, it will be difficult for Cambodia's ruling elite to draw a clear line with Chen Zhi.
Economic sources estimate that cyber fraud already accounts for half of Cambodia’s economy, making the impact of the case beyond Chen’s individual, revealing the vulnerability of the country’s economic and political structures.
Chen Zhi has not been seen in public since the sanctions were announced last week. The man who was once one of Cambodia's richest businessmen seems to have vanished completely, leaving behind a series of unanswered questions about Asia's largest digital fraud and the fate of a financial empire whose peak wealth is estimated to be billions of dollars.
Internet users in mainland China also expect the relevant departments to act quickly to freeze the assets of the Prince Group and Chen Zhi on the mainland, and open an investigation into them and their behind-the-scenes protectors to find out whose "Prince" Chen Zhi is as soon as possible?
The Author: Xu三郎