Prince Group transnational criminal organization case

The Prince Group case is an international investigation of the Cambodian organization Prince Holding Group, its founder Chen Zhi, and affiliated organizations. United States and United Kingdom agencies have accused the Prince Group of operating large-scale scamming operations in Cambodia and Myanmar, enabled by human trafficking and forced labor. Workers, many from China, were lured with false promises of employment and forced to run online "pig butchering" scams in which victims were tricked into investing in cryptocurrency. Funds resulting from the scams were laundered by gambling and cryptocurrency mining operations controlled by the Prince Group.[1]

Chinese authorities had been investigating the Prince Group since around 2020.[2] In October 2025, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned 146 people associated with the Prince Group; US Federal prosecutors indicted Chen Zhi for money landering and wire fraud; and the US Justice Department seized US$14 billion in bitcoins from the Prince Group. At the same time, the UK government imposed sanctions on 6 people and organizations, freezing $134 million of properties in London. [1]

Chen Zhi was extradited by Cambodia to China on January 6, 2026.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Hume, Tim (15 October 2025). "US, UK sanction huge Southeast Asian crypto scam network". Aljazeera. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  2. 1 2 Fraser, Simon (8 January 2026). "Cambodia extradites alleged scam mastermind to China after arrest". BBC. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.