Cambodia continues to work with China, the United States and Britain on the case of Chen Zhi, the business tycoon accused of masterminding a vast network that scammed billions from victims around the world, according to a government minister in Phnom Penh.
“We are collaborating with the US, China and also the UK,” Chhay Sinarith, a senior minister who also heads Cambodia’s Commission for Combating Online Scams, said in an interview with the South China Morning Post on Monday.
Chen, who held multiple citizenships including Cambodian, was deported to China last month.
His extradition, which Cambodian authorities said followed months of cooperation between the two governments, attracted widespread attention because he was indicted in the US in October and had also been sanctioned by both America and the United Kingdom.
US law enforcement has seized about US$15 billion worth of bitcoin alleged to be proceeds and tools of Chen’s scheme in what FBI director Kash Patel described as “one of the largest financial fraud takedowns in history”.
A number of governments across Asia, including Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, have seized assets or detained individuals related to Chen’s conglomerate, Prince Holding Group.
It remains unclear if Chen will ever be brought to trial in the US, as there is no extradition agreement between Beijing and Washington.
Speaking at the national police headquarters in Phnom Penh, Chhay Sinarith told SCMP that the government decided to deport Chen to China after his Cambodian citizenship was revoked in December.
“While finding out that he was involved in online scams, we also found that he had used a fake document to gain ... naturalisation to become a Cambodian citizen,” the minister said through a translator.
“With the withdrawal of Cambodian citizenship, his citizenship reverted to Chinese and that’s why Cambodia was responsible for sending him back to where he comes from,” he added.
Chen, 38, was born in a fishing village in Fujian province in eastern China. He became a Cambodian citizen in 2014 and renounced his Chinese citizenship. He also holds passports for Saint Lucia, Vanuatu and Cyprus.
Chen left Phnom Penh for China on January 7, escorted by armed Chinese police. Beijing’s public security ministry described him at the time as a Chinese national and hailed the operation as a “major achievement in joint law enforcement with Cambodia”.
The Chinese police authority said investigations were continuing into Chen’s group, which was suspected of multiple offences, “including operating illegal gambling venues, fraud, illegal business operations, and concealing or disguising the proceeds of crime”.
Following Chen’s deportation, the Chinese public security authority has also issued a notice urging fugitive suspects linked to Chen to turn themselves in, with an offer of lighter or reduced punishment to those who voluntarily surrender and confess.
According to US prosecutors, Chen and his associates started building compounds throughout Cambodia from 2015, where thousands of workers were forced to carry out scam operations in conditions that included threats and violence.
In 2020, China set up a special task force to investigate cross-border crimes, which included looking into Prince Holding Group. At that time, 458 suspects linked to the group were arrested for providing payment and settlement services for its online casino, according to the public security ministry. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
