Prosecutors charged 62 people and 13 companies in connection with a Cambodian conglomerate whose founder is accused of running forced labour camps.
Prince Holding Group founder Chen Zhi has been indicted by the US on fraud and money-laundering charges for allegedly running a multibillion-dollar cyberscam network from Cambodia.
The South-East Asian nation has emerged as a hotspot for crime syndicates running a multibillion-dollar fraud industry that sees scammers lure Internet users globally into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments.
Cambodia deported Chen to China in January. Beijing has called Chen “the ringleader of a major cross-border gambling and fraud criminal syndicate”.
The Taipei District Prosecutors Office yesterday said 62 people, including Chen, and 13 companies have been charged with offences that include “initiating, directing, manipulating and commanding a criminal organisation”.
Other charges include large-scale money laundering, falsifying accounting records, operating gambling venues for profit and using forged business documents.
“The Prince Group, led by Chen Zhi, ... established multiple companies in Taiwan from 2016 onwards to facilitate illegal gambling and money laundering operations,” prosecutors said in a statement.
More than US$300mil (RM1.1bil) was laundered in Taiwan via foreign exchange transfers to Taiwanese companies, prosecutors said. — AFP
