{"id":500735,"date":"2026-01-08T06:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T06:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/500735\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T06:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T06:40:09","slug":"alleged-scam-kingpin-chen-zhi-extradited-to-china-after-cambodia-arrest-cambodia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/500735\/","title":{"rendered":"Alleged scam kingpin Chen Zhi extradited to China after Cambodia arrest | Cambodia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chinese-born tycoon Chen Zhi<\/a>, who was indicted by the US on fraud and money-laundering charges for running a multibillion-dollar online scam network from Cambodia, has been arrested there and extradited to China, Phnom Penh said.<\/p>\n

Chen allegedly directed operations of forced labour compounds across Cambodia<\/a>, where trafficked workers were held in prison-like facilities surrounded by high walls and barbed wire, according to US prosecutors.<\/p>\n

Since the US indictment and sanctions by Washington and London in October<\/a>, authorities in Europe, the US and Asia have targeted Chen\u2019s firm, Prince Holding Group, with a frenzy of asset confiscations.<\/p>\n

Chen founded the Prince Group, a multinational conglomerate that authorities allege served as a front for \u201cone of Asia\u2019s largest transnational criminal organizations,\u201d according to the US justice department.<\/p>\n

Cambodian authorities \u201chave arrested three Chinese nationals namely Chen Zhi, Xu Ji Liang, and Shao Ji Hui and extradited [them] to the People\u2019s Republic of China,\u201d Cambodia\u2019s interior ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The operation was carried out on Tuesday \u201cwithin the scope of cooperation in combating transnational crime\u201d and according to a request from Chinese authorities \u201cfollowing several months of joint investigative cooperation,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Chen\u2019s Cambodian nationality was \u201crevoked by a Royal Decree\u201d in December, the interior ministry added.<\/p>\n

Chinese authorities did not immediately comment late on Wednesday on Chen\u2019s arrest and extradition.<\/p>\n

The US justice department also declined to comment on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

US authorities in October unsealed an indictment against Chen, a businessman accused of presiding over compounds in Cambodia where trafficked workers carried out cryptocurrency fraud schemes that have netted billions of dollars.<\/p>\n

He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted in the US on wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges involving approximately 127,271 bitcoins seized by Washington, worth more than $11bn at current prices.<\/p>\n

Prince Group has denied the allegations.<\/p>\n

According to the US charges, scam workers were forced \u2013 under threat of violence \u2013 to execute so-called \u201cpig butchering\u201d scams, cryptocurrency investment schemes that build trust with victims over time before stealing their funds.<\/p>\n

The schemes target victims worldwide, causing billions in losses.<\/p>\n

Scam centres across Cambodia, Myanmar<\/a> and the region use fake job ads to attract foreign nationals \u2013 many of them Chinese \u2013 to purpose-built compounds, where they are forced to carry out online fraud.<\/p>\n

Since around 2015, Prince Group has operated across more than 30 countries under the guise of legitimate real estate, financial services and consumer businesses, US prosecutors claim.<\/p>\n

Chen and top executives allegedly used political influence and bribed officials in multiple countries to protect their illicit operations.<\/p>\n

In Cambodia, Chen has served as an adviser to the prime minister, Hun Manet, and his father, former leader Hun Sen.<\/p>\n

The south-east Asian country hosts dozens of scam centres with tens of thousands of people perpetrating online scams \u2013 some willingly and others trafficked, experts say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chinese-born tycoon Chen Zhi, who was indicted by the US on fraud and money-laundering charges for running a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":500736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[50,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-500735","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115858114165192937","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}