The US and British governments announced a sweeping crackdown on Tuesday against cyber-fraud rings in Southeast Asia, accused of luring workers with fraudulent job offers or fake romances, forcing them to extract billions from people around the world through a series of deceptions, then laundering the money they received.
The US Treasury Department said it targeted 146 people from the Prince Group, a multi-billion dollar Cambodian conglomerate, including its 38-year-old leader Chen Zhi.
“The rapid increase in transnational fraud has cost American citizens billions of dollars, with lives saved in minutes,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. American citizens lost $10 billion to Southeast Asian scammers in 2024 alone, the statement said.
Chen was charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering in an indictment unsealed Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court. The United States has seized approximately $15 billion in bitcoins allegedly used in money laundering operations. In a statement, the US Department of Justice called the measure the largest confiscation ever.
British officials say they have frozen the Prince Group’s assets, including a mansion, an office building and other properties in London, in an effort to “put Chen and his network out of the British financial system,” the British Foreign Office said in a statement.
“The masterminds behind these horrific scam hubs are ruining the lives of vulnerable people and buying houses in London to store their money,” British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said.
An email sent to the Prince Group press inbox seeking comment was returned as undeliverable.
Last year, an RFA investigation detailed allegations of brutal treatment of workers at the Golden Fortune Science and Technology Park, a complex linked to the Prince Group in Chrey Thom, a border town in southeastern Cambodia.
Employees and former employees described workers lured by promises of well-paying jobs and allegedly being confined and beaten if they did not perform well or tried to escape.
RFA journalists traced Chen’s rise from his emigration from China to Cambodia, his founding of the Prince Group in 2015, his role in growing the coastal town of Sihanoukville into a haven for Chinese casinos, his deepening political ties and his allegations of criminality.
The investigation also revealed that the Prince Group moved millions of dollars around the world in a way that experts say bears the hallmarks of money laundering.
Golden Fortune Resorts World was among the companies hit by U.S. and British sanctions on Tuesday. Jin Bei Group, an entertainment and hospitality company that owns a casino in Sihanoukville and is also said to operate scam centers, as well as Byex Exchange, a cryptocurrency platform, were also hit.
Includes reporting from Reuters.