Cambodia extradites suspected scam mastermind to China after arrest

Cambodia says it has extradited to China a billionaire businessman accused of masterminding a massive cryptocurrency scam in which trafficked workers were lured to forced labor camps to defraud victims globally.

Chen Zhi was among three Chinese nationals arrested on January 6 following a months-long joint investigation into transnational crime, Cambodia said.

The United States last October accused the 37-year-old, born in southeast China, of running internet scams from Cambodia, which it said stole billions in cryptocurrencies.

THE US Treasury Department seizes around $14bn (£10.4bn) worth of bitcoin he claimed to belong to him. The UK also sanctioned its global business empire, Prince Group..

US prosecutors said it was one of the largest financial withdrawals in history and the largest Bitcoin seizure ever.

The BBC then contacted Prince Group for comment. In the past, the Cambodia-based group has denied any involvement in scams. Its website says its businesses include real estate development as well as financial and consumer services.

Since Chen Zhi was indicted by the United States on fraud and money laundering charges in October, his whereabouts have been unknown.

But on Wednesday, Cambodian authorities said they had “arrested three Chinese nationals, namely Chen Zhi, Xu Ji Liang and Shao Ji Hui, and extradited them.” [them] in the People’s Republic of China.” The Interior Ministry’s statement did not specify where Chen Zhi was detained.

His Cambodian nationality was revoked by royal decree last month, the statement added. The enigmatic tycoon renounced his Chinese nationality to become a Cambodian citizen in 2014.

The UN estimates that hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to Southeast Asia, many to Cambodia, lured by the promise of legitimate jobs and then forced to engage in online scams.

People are held against their will in fraud farms and forced to defraud strangers online under threat of punishment or torture. Most of those trapped are Chinese and people targeted in China.

Chinese authorities have also been quietly investigating the Prince Group since at least 2020. The company is accused of running online fraud schemes in a number of lawsuits.

The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau has established a task force to investigate the Prince Group, describing it as “a major transnational online gaming syndicate based in Cambodia.”

The Cambodian ruling elite has been close to Chen Zhi for years. The government hasn’t said much since the US and UK sanctioned the Prince group, only urging US and UK authorities to ensure they have enough evidence to support their claims.

According to some estimates, fraudulent businesses may account for around half of the entire Cambodian economy.

“I think it’s the scale of his operations that really sets Chen Zhi apart,” Jack Adamovic Davies, a journalist who has investigated Chen Zhi, told the BBC last year.

He said it was shocking that the Prince Group was able to build a “global footprint” without sounding the alarm, given the serious criminal charges it now faces.

Additional reporting by Southeast Asia correspondent Jonathan Head