The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 26th, local time, that Prince Group, identified as the force behind the "Cambodia scam crimes," has used the infrastructure of Singapore, the "Asian financial hub," to package its operations as legitimate.
Citing U.S. prosecutors, WP reported that so far in Singapore, 12 front companies with the character of shell organizations have operated to help launder money for Prince Group. WP said, "The Prince Group chair, indicted on online fraud charges, and close associates exploited Singapore's image as a stable and predictable financial hub."
Prince Group, founded in 2015 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, by ethnic Chinese businessman Chen Zhi, is known to have been involved in scam crimes and human trafficking, fronting various subsidiaries in entertainment, finance, and real estate investment. They lured foreigners with false job ads, then detained and tortured them, and forced them into online fraud schemes to pocket massive criminal proceeds. Many of the crime syndicates operating in Cambodia are said to have consolidation with the Chinese triad, the Samhaphoe.
On the 14th, the U.S. and U.K. governments jointly sanctioned Prince Group and its head, Chair Chen Zhi (陳志), and in the process more than 12 Singapore-based entities and three Singaporeans were included among the targets. One of them served as a top manager at a cyber fraud compound operated in Cambodia and was identified as Chen Zhi's "co-conspirator" in the indictment.
WP noted that beyond the companies and individuals designated by the U.S. Treasury, several Singaporean figures and corporations have played key roles in shaping Prince Group's image and corporate strategy. Notable examples are Gabriel Tan, who served as head of communications for Prince Group, and Edward Lee, who oversaw the real estate division. The two have handled Prince Group's press responses, and a bill submitted to the U.S. Congress last month named them as individuals who should be sanctioned for involvement in promoting cyber fraud.
Singapore law firm Duane Morris & Selvam also acted as Prince Group's legal representative and supported its operations. The firm has responded to claims by media outlets and individuals linking the company to illegal activity, and last year issued a joint statement with Prince Group refuting a Radio Free Asia report. In June, it also filed a defamation suit against Jacob Sims, a visiting scholar at Harvard University who has investigated Prince Group. The Spokesperson for the firm avoided specific comment and said only that it no longer represents Prince Group.
Because of this, there is an assessment that Prince Group has engaged in so-called "Singapore washing." "Singapore washing" refers to the phenomenon of Chinese corporations moving their headquarters to Singapore to evade U.S. sanctions, and more recently it has been used in connection with methods of laundering revenue earned through cyber fraud. John Jayan, associate provost in the political science department at the National University of Singapore, said, "Singapore's relatively closed environment and less active media environment create conditions that make it easy for corporations, whether legitimate or illegitimate, to hide here."
Prince Group has also expanded its influence within Singapore. In December last year, Prince Group co-ran an overseas learning program at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), a prestigious university in Singapore. NTU also promoted an internship at Belt Road Capital Management, which was sanctioned for investing Chair Chen Zhi's funds into various Southeast Asia projects. In addition, a subsidiary of Temasek, Singapore's sovereign wealth funds, is also known to have pursued a coastal development project in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, together with a Prince Group subsidiary.
WP assessed, "If political connections in Cambodia and China were key to Prince Group amassing astronomical wealth, the place that played an important role in laundering and legitimizing that money was Singapore."