For years, Chen Zhi was known in Cambodia as a powerful businessman, a government insider, and a prominent philanthropist. Today, he stands accused by Western and Chinese authorities of operating a vast online fraud network — a case that has exposed the hidden scale of transnational cybercrime in the region.
The case took a decisive turn when Cambodian authorities confirmed that Chen had been extradited to China following his arrest in a major international investigation into online fraud and cryptocurrency scams.
Chen Zhi, 37, was arrested on 6 January along with two other Chinese nationals after a joint, months-long investigation into transnational crime. He is accused by US prosecutors of masterminding large-scale internet scam operations based in Cambodia, which allegedly defrauded victims around the world of billions of dollars in cryptocurrency.
Last October, US authorities formally charged Chen with operating online fraud networks and seized approximately $15 billion worth of bitcoin allegedly linked to him. FBI Director Kash Patel described the operation as “one of the largest financial fraud takedowns in history.”
The UK government has also imposed sanctions on Chen’s business empire, Prince Group, while Cambodian regulators have suspended the operations of Prince Bank, a subsidiary of the group. The National Bank of Cambodia said the bank has been placed under liquidation and barred from offering new services, although customers are still able to withdraw funds and repay loans.
From elite insider to global suspect
Chen Zhi is a Chinese-born businessman who became one of Cambodia’s most powerful economic figures over the past decade. Born in China on 16 December 1987, he acquired Cambodian citizenship in 2014 and was awarded the honorific title “Neak Oknha,” a status reserved for major donors and influential business leaders.
He was also known to have close ties with Cambodia’s political elite and had previously served as an adviser to the prime minister. His group, Prince Holding Group (PHG), founded in 2015, grew into one of the largest conglomerates in the country, with over 100 businesses spanning real estate, banking, finance, aviation, tourism, logistics, technology, and consumer sectors.
By the end of 2021, Prince Group reportedly held about 47.5 million square meters of land and managed assets worth roughly $2.5 billion, according to company disclosures.
On its website, the company portrayed Chen as a respected entrepreneur and philanthropist, highlighting his charitable work through the Prince Foundation.
Long-running investigations
However, according to the BBC, Chinese authorities have been quietly investigating Prince Group since at least 2020. The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau established a special task force to examine what it described as “a major transnational online gambling and fraud syndicate based in Cambodia.”
Multiple court cases in different jurisdictions have linked Chen’s business network to online scams, forced labor, and human trafficking, in which victims were allegedly lured into scam compounds and forced to defraud people worldwide.
The Cambodian government has so far made limited public comment on the case, beyond confirming the arrests and extradition, and has previously urged Western governments to ensure they had sufficient evidence before taking action against Prince Group.
Analysts say the case highlights the scale of the scam economy in Cambodia, where some estimates suggest fraud operations may account for as much as half of the country’s informal economy.
Chen Zhi’s extradition now places one of Cambodia’s most prominent business figures at the center of an international legal battle that could reshape how the region confronts transnational cybercrime.
