students said the government promised to pay their university tuition after more than 400 scholarships given by an alleged cyberscam kingpin were abruptly cancelled after his arrest.
Cambodian authorities deported tycoon Chen Zhi to China this month following allegations he ran multibillion-dollar Internet fraud operations from Cambodia using trafficked scammers.
US authorities indicted Chinese-born Chen, a former adviser to Cambodia’s leaders, in October on fraud and money-laundering charges, alleging his firm Prince Group was a front for a transnational cybercrime network.
Chen, who founded and headed the internationally sanctioned conglomerate, also started a foundation in 2015. A scholarship in his name was launched in 2021 to support Cambodians pursuing bachelor’s degrees, its website says.
Several students at the public Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) said they were informed by a Prince representative on Tuesday that their full-tuition scholarships and living stipends had been cancelled.
“They said their company has a problem,” said Narak, 20, who studies computer science.
But RUPP told scholarship recipients on Thursday that the “education ministry will cover the tuition until we graduate”.
Khuon Vicheka, a spokeswoman for the education ministry, said officials were working with universities to ensure 418 students who had been awarded the scholarship could complete their degrees.
“We will not leave them behind,” she said.
A poor student from a rural area, Narak said the scholarship – which had covered his annual tuition fee of US$500 (RM2000) and US$50 (RM200) monthly stipend since late 2024 – “had lifted a burden” for his family.
But after learning last year about how Chen allegedly made his fortune, he felt “very guilty” and had even thought about giving up his scholarship, the third-year student said.
“If his business is bad, I think he wanted to launder money through education because people may not be suspicious about him,” Narak said who asked to be identified by one name due to safety concerns. — AFP
