The Chen Zhi Crypto Scam has stunned the world — a story of a young entrepreneur who rose from obscurity to become one of Southeast Asia’s most powerful businessmen, only to be accused of masterminding one of the largest cryptocurrency frauds in history. According to the US Department of Justice, Chen Zhi — the 37-year-old chairman of Cambodia’s Prince Group — ran a vast cyber-fraud network that stole over $14 billion in cryptocurrency from victims worldwide.
Behind his clean suits and calm demeanor, Chen Zhi cultivated the image of a respected philanthropist and visionary leader. But beneath that polished surface, investigators allege he built a criminal empire rooted in human suffering, deception, and modern slavery.
A Meteoric Rise in Southeast Asia
Chen Zhi’s journey began in Fujian province, China, where he first tried his hand at running a small online gaming business. The venture flopped, but in 2010, he relocated to Cambodia, a country experiencing a massive property boom. Chinese investment was flooding in, driven by the Belt and Road Initiative and private investors seeking fresh opportunities outside China’s saturated markets.
In Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, and the coastal city of Sihanoukville, Chen Zhi quickly positioned himself as a key player. By 2015, he founded the Prince Group, a conglomerate that soon expanded into real estate, banking, aviation, and hospitality.
His rise was nothing short of extraordinary.
- In 2018, Chen obtained a commercial banking license and launched Prince Bank.
- The same year, he secured Cypriot citizenship by investing $2.5 million, granting him European access.
- He later gained Vanuatu citizenship, providing even more financial mobility.
- By 2020, his portfolio included luxury malls, five-star hotels, and even an ambitious $16 billion “eco-city” project called Bay of Lights in Sihanoukville.
His growing wealth earned him Cambodia’s top royal honor — the “Neak Oknha” title — after a $500,000 donation to the government. He became an adviser to top officials, including former Prime Minister Hun Sen and his son Hun Manet, now Cambodia’s leader.
But the source of Chen Zhi’s immense wealth remained murky — and that mystery would soon unravel.
The Cracks Begin to Show
By 2019, Sihanoukville’s glittering transformation was collapsing. A crackdown on illegal online gambling forced hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers and investors to flee, leaving behind ghost towers and empty casinos.
Yet, curiously, Chen Zhi’s wealth and influence only grew. Despite the property crash, he continued to acquire assets around the world.
Authorities later discovered that in 2019, Chen had:
- Purchased a £12 million mansion in North London.
- Acquired a £95 million office building in London’s financial district.
- Invested in luxury properties in New York, private jets, superyachts, and even a Picasso painting.
The US Department of Justice and the US Treasury eventually connected these acquisitions to an elaborate network of online fraud schemes, human trafficking, and cryptocurrency laundering operations across Asia.
Inside the Scam Empire
The US and UK governments accuse Chen Zhi of leading what they call the “Prince Group Transnational Crime Organization.” This network allegedly operated at least 10 scam compounds in Cambodia, such as the Golden Fortune Science and Technology Park near the Vietnamese border.
These compounds, according to court documents and eyewitness accounts, were centers of horrific abuse. Victims — mostly Chinese, Vietnamese, and Malaysian nationals — were trafficked, enslaved, and forced to run online scams under constant surveillance and threat of violence.
Photos released by investigators show rows of phone racks, each containing hundreds of devices used to target global victims in romance scams, investment frauds, and sextortion schemes.
The US Treasury’s sanctions describe the Prince Group’s operations as profiting from:
- Sextortion targeting minors.
- Cryptocurrency and investment frauds.
- Large-scale money laundering.
- Illegal gambling networks.
- Human trafficking and torture of enslaved workers.
In total, more than 128 companies and 17 individuals across seven countries have been sanctioned for aiding Chen Zhi’s network.
Silence, Sanctions, and Shockwaves
Since the sanctions were announced, Chen Zhi has disappeared from public view. His last known appearance was before the US seizure of the $14 billion in Bitcoin allegedly tied to his operations — the largest cryptocurrency confiscation in history.
The Cambodian Central Bank has been forced to reassure depositors that Prince Bank remains solvent, while neighboring countries — including Singapore, Thailand, and South Korea — have launched investigations into Prince subsidiaries.
Governments and corporations once eager to align with Chen are now distancing themselves. Yet for many in Cambodia, the scandal highlights a deeper problem: how scam operations and illicit investments have quietly become a backbone of the national economy.
As journalist Jack Adamovic Davies, who investigated Chen Zhi for Radio Free Asia, put it:
“What should be uncomfortable for a lot of people is that Chen Zhi should never have been able to acquire all these assets in Singapore, London, or the US. Lawyers, accountants, and bankers should have seen that this didn’t add up — but they didn’t.”
What Happens Next?
The Chen Zhi Crypto Scam case is a wake-up call for global regulators. It exposes the vulnerabilities of cross-border financial systems that allow bad actors to move billions undetected. It also underscores the human cost of online crime — where digital fraud often hides physical enslavement.
While US and UK authorities continue their pursuit, Chen Zhi’s current whereabouts remain unknown. His empire — once a symbol of Cambodia’s modern prosperity — now stands as a warning of what unchecked power and opaque wealth can conceal.
The collapse of Chen Zhi’s reputation marks more than the downfall of a tycoon — it is a turning point in the fight against crypto fraud, corruption, and transnational crime.
Until Chen Zhi is found and tried, one question lingers:
How many more “philanthropists” around the world are hiding similar digital empires of deception?
Source: BBC News
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