What Is Chen Zhi and the So-Called Crime Network, Accused by the United States and United Kingdom of Large-Scale Fraudulent Schemes?
The United Kingdom and US have enforced measures on a global syndicate operating from south-east Asia, allegedly orchestrating large-scale online scam operations that are believed to using victims of human trafficking to defraud individuals around the world.
This criminal enterprise has flourished in the past few years, particularly in parts of Cambodia and Myanmar where hundreds of thousands have been duped by false job adverts and then forced to commit internet scams, such as fake relationship schemes, sometimes under the threat of torture.
The US treasury department stated it had taken what it described as the most significant measure to date in south-east Asia, targeting over a hundred individuals associated with the Prince Group, which the UK also penalized.
Those targeted include the head of the Prince group, Chen Zhi, as well as numerous persons connected to his business operations across Southeast Asia and Pacific regions.
Understanding the Alleged Syndicate and Who is Chen Zhi?
According to official statements, the individual in question, 38, also referred to as “the alias”, is the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group (Prince Group), a global corporate entity based in Cambodia which, according to its website, is centered around “property investment, banking operations and consumer services”.
On 14 October, US authorities stated that Chen, who is still evading capture, had been indicted for conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering conspiracy for overseeing the group's activities of forced labour scam compounds across Cambodia.
His swift rise to riches has won him substantial clout, including reported advisory roles to the nation's leader. Chen, a native of China from 1987, is believed to have acquired nationality in Vanuatu and Cyprus, and is also a Cambodian national.
Why have They Been Penalized?
The US justice department claimed individuals had been forcibly detained in the fraudulent operation centers connected to the syndicate and forced to participate in a variety of fraudulent schemes that defrauded massive sums from victims in the US and worldwide.
As part of the investigation into the leader, the US and UK have seized $15bn (£11.3 billion) in bitcoin and frozen properties in London.
The seized assets are believed to comprise a £12 million mansion on a prestigious street, one of the costliest locations in London, a £95 million commercial building on Fenchurch Street in the center of the London's banking area, and several flats in downtown London.
“Now the Federal Bureau of Investigation and allies executed one of the biggest crackdowns on fraud in recorded time,” said the bureau's head the official in a statement about the measures.
Other Parties Is Involved?
Based on the US assistant attorney general, the accused was the alleged “mastermind behind a vast cyber-fraud empire functioning under the Prince Group umbrella”. He was added to a American blacklist this month together with over a dozen additional persons suspected of being involved in his business empire.
More than 100 business entities – based in Cambodia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan and more – were also added to a blacklist because of alleged links to Chen.
What will the Measures Achieve?
A representative from Cambodia's government told media outlets that the authorities would cooperate with foreign nations in the case against the individual.
“We do not shielding individuals that violate the law,” the official said. “But it does not mean that we are accusing the group or its leader of engaging in illegal acts like the allegations issued by the US or the UK.”
Despite the historic set of penalties, experts say the scam industry is still massive, with the UN estimating in recent years that about a hundred thousand individuals were being forced to execute internet fraud in Cambodia, as well as at least 120,000 in the neighboring country and tens of thousands in Thailand, Laos and the Philippines.
Given the prevalence of the industry in several south-east Asian countries, certain worry any arrests will leave a vacuum for other transnational groups to take over.
