Chen Zhi (38), chair of Prince Group, who is suspected of building a vast romance scam crime empire across Cambodia, was captured after fleeing and handed over to investigators. The Cambodian government stripped Chen of his citizenship and forcibly extradited him to China. As the mastermind behind the "pig butchering" scam that shocked the world faces justice, experts said the group he led and its crime compounds are facing their biggest crisis. Attention is also turning to the course of legal proceedings and asset recovery plans.
Cambodia's Interior Ministry said in an official statement on the 7th that it had arrested three Chinese nationals, including Prince Group Chair Chen Zhi, and extradited them to China. The Cambodian government coordinated with Chinese investigators for months to catch Chen. The ministry said in the statement that the handover was made "as part of cooperation in responding to transnational crime."
Chen was born in China but obtained Cambodian citizenship in 2014. He then used his Cambodian citizenship as a shield to avoid overseas extradition. But his citizenship was revoked by royal decree in Dec., removing the personal protection that had blocked extradition to another country. The Cambodian government deemed the alleged crimes serious and made an unusually swift deportation decision.
Chen is accused of running large-scale crime compounds in Cambodia and carrying out online fraud targeting people around the world. The U.S. Department of Justice indicted him in Oct. on wire fraud and money laundering charges. The U.S. Department of the Treasury also designated Prince Group as a transnational criminal organization and imposed tough sanctions.
Now extradited to China, Chen will stand trial there. Legal experts estimated that, given the scale of the case and the complexity of the charges, the investigation and trial will take considerable time. Chinese investigators plan to probe extensive economic and organized crime spanning China, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. Legal professionals projected it could take at least one to two years just to trace cross-border money flows.
If the allegations are proven, the expected punishment will be severe. In addition to operating an online gambling site, fraud, and money laundering, Chen also faces human trafficking and forced labor charges. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), U.S. prosecutors secured evidence that Chen directly ordered and oversaw the beating of workers inside the scam compounds.
Chinese investigators also appear to have found extensive related evidence over months of investigation. Under China's criminal law, large-scale economic fraud and organized forced labor are unlikely to avoid heavy sentences. If losses from fraud are deemed particularly large or serious circumstances such as forced labor and organized crime are confirmed, a punishment equivalent to life imprisonment could be imposed. Chinese authorities are reportedly reviewing which combination of charges to bring against Chen.
The biggest question is whether the vast asset Chen hid can be recovered and used to compensate victims. The U.S. government last year seized about $14 billion worth of bitcoin (about 18.9 trillion won) believed to be owned by Chen. It is considered the largest bitcoin seizure in history. Hong Kong police also froze asset worth HK$2.75 billion (about 480 billion won) linked to him.
A Singapore court also recently rejected a request from Chen's side to unfreeze funds. According to the Straits Times, a Prince Group official recently asked a Singapore court to release part of the frozen asset under Chen's name to pay taxes and salaries. But the court rejected the request, saying "the source of the funds is unclear and they are likely proceeds of crime."
However, returning the seized asset to victims will require a grueling process. Multiple countries are involved in freezing the asset, and forfeiture procedures differ by legal system. The WSJ reported that Chen laundered funds through a network of more than 100 corporations across 30 countries. For the U.S. and Chinese governments to split the money seized from Chen, they will need to negotiate asset allocation. Proving victimization is also likely to be a drawn-out process. Experts said asset recovery litigation could escalate into an international dispute, meaning actual compensation could take years.
Prince Group is effectively paralyzed by the absence of its chair and the freezing of asset. As U.S. authorities, under orders from President Donald Trump, increased pressure, the group's global network has been rapidly collapsing. At Geotech Holdings, an affiliate listed in Hong Kong, the audit firm resigned. Other affiliates also saw a string of executive resignations.
Chen's extradition is expected to serve as a strong warning to other criminal organizations operating in Southeast Asia. It has shown that no matter how much wealth they accumulate or how deeply they collude with local power, there is no safety in the face of international cooperation. Still, it remains uncertain whether the scam compounds in Cambodia will disappear entirely with Chen's arrest. While Chen symbolizes Cambodia's scam crimes, concerns persist over a so-called balloon effect in which other criminal organizations fill the void.
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a nonprofit investigative media outlet, said, "Chen stood at the top of the massive organization known as Prince Group, but beneath him lies a web of countless accomplices and corrupt networks." It means the Cambodian government must go beyond one-off arrests to dismantle the crime compounds themselves and conduct sustained crackdowns to eradicate scam crimes.