US and UK authorities have imposed sweeping sanctions against Chen Zhi, a British-Cambodian businessman accused of running large-scale cyberscam operations involving human trafficking and transnational fraud schemes that generated billions of dollars.
Chen, 37, is the chairman of Prince Holding Group, one of Cambodia’s largest conglomerates with investments across real estate, financial services, and consumer industries, according to a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Since its founding in 2015, the group has expanded operations to more than 30 countries and poured about $2 billion into Cambodian real estate, including the Prince Plaza shopping mall in Phnom Penh.
Born in China and holding both British and Cambodian citizenship, Chen has served as an adviser to Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father, former leader Hun Sen. He also carries the honorific title Neak Oknha, meaning “prominent tycoon.”
Transnational crime expert Jacob Sims told AFP that Chen is “a deeply state-embedded actor in Cambodia.” He added, “His influence runs through every layer of government, and Prince Group has long functioned as a major patron organization for the ruling party.”
Prince Group rejected similar statements in a report by Sims published earlier this year, calling them “defamatory assertions made without evidence or court rulings.”
On its website, the company says it aims to play an “important role” in Cambodia “through partnerships or direct investments into key industries for the betterment of Cambodians and the local economy.”
Criminal accusations and global crackdown
The US Department of Justice said Prince served as a front for “one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organizations.”
US Attorney General Pam Bondi described the indictment as “one of the most significant strikes ever against the global scourge of human trafficking and cyber-enabled financial fraud.”
According to AFP, US prosecutors alleged that Chen and his associates used political influence and bribed officials in several countries to protect their illicit operations.
The US and UK sanctions freeze Chen’s assets and properties in both nations, while Washington’s indictment charges him with fraud and money laundering involving Bitcoin valued at around $15 billion.
Authorities claim Chen oversaw forced labor compounds across Cambodia, where thousands were held behind barbed wire and high walls.
Many were allegedly coerced into carrying out “pig butchering” scams — long-term cryptocurrency frauds that lure victims through fake relationships before stealing their savings.
“These scams targeted victims worldwide, causing billions of dollars in losses,” AFP reported. Sims said, “Chen Zhi, Prince Group, and their co-conspirators within the upper echelons of the Cambodian government have presided over a system of gross exploitation whose malign effects are felt worldwide.”
Prince Group did not respond to AFP’s requests for comment. Both Chen and the company have previously denied allegations of criminality.
Cambodia’s response and regional implications
Cambodia’s interior ministry said it would cooperate with international authorities in the case.
“We are not protecting individuals that violate the law,” ministry spokesman Touch Sokhak told AFP. “But it does not mean that we are accusing Prince Group or Chen Zhi of committing crimes like the allegations made by the US or the UK.”
Organized crime expert Lindsey Kennedy, research director of The Eyewitness Project, described the sanctions as “so important and so groundbreaking.”
“We’ve never seen actors in this industry who looked so untouchable face these kinds of asset seizures and coordinated enforcement efforts before,” Kennedy said.
However, she warned that with some economies heavily dependent on the scam industry, the crackdown “potentially leave[s] a vacuum for other organized crime types to swoop in.”
