🔗 Share this article Who Are Chen Zhi and the Prince Group, Targeted by the US and UK of Massive Scam Operations? The United Kingdom and US have enforced measures on a global syndicate operating from south-east Asia, accused of running large-scale internet fraud schemes that are suspected of using victims of human trafficking to defraud people around the world. This industry has flourished in the past few years, particularly in parts of Cambodia and Myanmar where hundreds of thousands have been duped by fraudulent employment offers and then forced to commit online fraud, including romance scams, sometimes under the menace of torture. The US treasury department stated it had implemented what it described as the largest action ever in Southeast Asia, targeting over a hundred individuals associated with the Prince Group, which the United Kingdom also penalized. Those sanctioned include the head of the Prince group, the accused figure, as well as more than a dozen individuals connected to his business operations across Southeast Asia and Pacific regions. Understanding the Prince Group and Who is Chen Zhi? Based on authoritative sources, Chen Zhi, 38, also known as “Vincent”, is the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group (the group), a multinational business conglomerate based in the Southeast Asian nation which, according to its website, is focused on “property investment, banking operations and retail offerings”. On 14 October, American officials stated that Chen, who remains at large, had been charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy for overseeing Prince Group’s operation of fraud centers using coerced labor across Cambodia. His swift rise to riches has won him substantial clout, comprising alleged consulting positions to Cambodia’s prime minister. Chen, a native of China from 1987, is thought to have bought citizenship in Vanuatu and Cyprus, and is also a Cambodian national. Why have They Been Sanctioned? The Department of Justice claimed people had been forcibly detained in the fraudulent operation centers linked with the group and made to engage in a range of fraudulent schemes that stole massive sums from victims in the US and worldwide. As part of the probe into Chen, the US and UK have confiscated $15bn (£11.3 billion) in bitcoin and frozen properties in London. The seized assets are believed to comprise a £12 million mansion on Avenue Road, one of London’s most expensive addresses, a £95m commercial building on Fenchurch Street in the heart of the City of London’s financial district, and multiple apartments in central London. “Today the FBI and allies executed one of the biggest crackdowns on fraud in history,” said FBI director the official in a statement about the actions. Other Parties Is Involved? According to the senior justice official, the accused was the alleged “chief architect behind a vast cyber-fraud empire functioning under the Prince Group umbrella”. He was placed on a US sanctions list this October together with more than a dozen other individuals suspected of being participating in his commercial network. More than 100 business entities – registered in multiple Asian jurisdictions among others – were also placed on a sanctions list because of suspected connections to Chen. What will the Sanctions Achieve? Cambodia’s interior ministry spokesperson told media outlets that the authorities would work together with foreign nations in the case against the individual. “We do not shielding individuals that violate the law,” the official said. “But it does not mean that we are accusing the group or its leader of engaging in illegal acts like the allegations issued by the US or the UK.” In spite of the historic set of penalties, analysts say the fraud sector is still enormous, with the UN estimating in recent years that about a hundred thousand individuals were being forced to execute internet fraud in the nation, as well as at least one hundred twenty thousand in the neighboring country and many thousands in Thailand, Laos and the Philippines. Given the widespread nature of the enterprise in multiple south-east Asian countries, certain fear any arrests will create a gap for other transnational groups to take over.