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21h ago

Cambodia Extradites Tycoon Chen Zhi to China as Regulator Orders Prince Bank Liquidated

China's custody complicates prospects for any U.S. trial.

Vehicles drive past the Prince International Plaza in Phnom Penh on October 15, 2025. US authorities on Tuesday unsealed an indictment against Chen Zhi (inset), a UK-Cambodian businessman accused of running forced labor camps in Cambodia where trafficked workers carried out cryptocurrency fraud schemes that netted billions of dollars. The 37-year-old, known as Vincent, founded Prince Holding Group, a multinational conglomerate that authorities say served as a front for "one of Asia's largest transnational criminal organizations," according to the US Department of Justice. (Photo by TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP via Getty Images)
Image
Exterior of the building that the website of Prince Holding Group on Jan. 8, 2026, listed as its headquarters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (AP Photo)
FILE - People from China, Vietnam and Ethiopia, believed to have been trafficked and forced to work in scam centers, sit with their faces masked while in detention after being released from the centers in Myawaddy district in eastern Myanmar, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanaphon Wuttison, File)

Overview

  • Cambodia’s Interior Ministry said it arrested Chen Zhi along with Xu Ji Liang and Shao Ji Hui and transferred them to China after months of joint investigative cooperation, noting Chen’s Cambodian citizenship was revoked in December 2025.
  • The United States previously unsealed an indictment charging Chen with wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy tied to roughly 127,271 bitcoin in a record forfeiture action.
  • U.S. and UK authorities sanctioned Prince Group and associated individuals as a transnational criminal organization, while investigators in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong announced substantial asset freezes and seizures linked to the network.
  • Cambodia’s central bank placed Prince Bank, a subsidiary of Prince Holding Group, into liquidation, suspended new services, and appointed Morisonkak MKA as liquidator while allowing deposit withdrawals to continue.
  • Prince Group has denied the allegations; China’s lack of an extradition treaty with the U.S. raises uncertainty over whether Chen will face prosecution in New York.