THE authorities said they had frozen assets worth HK$2.75bil (RM1.5bil) linked to a criminal syndicate that local media reports identified as the Prince Group run by sanctioned Chinese-Cambodian tycoon Chen Zhi.
Britain and the United States in October sanctioned the South-East Asia-based multinational network, which is accused of operating large-scale online “scam centres” that used trafficked workers to defraud victims around the world.
Chen, 38, was indicted by a US court on charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
The Hong Kong police said the asset freeze involved a syndicate suspected of involvement in international cross-border telecommunications fraud and money laundering activities based on intelligence and information gathered from multiple sources.
“The frozen assets, including cash, stocks, and funds held by individuals and corporate entities, are believed to be crime proceeds linked to the concerned syndicate,” the police said in a statement on Tuesday without specifying names.
The Hong Kong Financial Intelligence and Investigation Bureau was continuing with investigations, but no arrests had yet been made.
At least 18 Hong Kong companies were blacklisted by the United States in connection with the Prince Group. — Reuters
