Cambodia's Foreign Minister boasts of continuing a rigorous crackdown on online scam centers, even after arresting and extraditing "Chen Zhu," a major suspect in a transnational scam network, to China for prosecution.,
Prak Sokhonn, Cambodia's Foreign Minister, told Reuters from Phnom Penh that the arrest and extradition of Chen Zhu to China reflects Cambodia's firm commitment to combating crime, emphasizing that this action is only part of an ongoing fight.
Prak Sokhonn said the arrest of Chen Zhu, a Chinese-born man last week, marks a significant step in international cooperation to suppress scam networks in Southeast Asia, which had previously been fragmented. These criminal networks defraud victims worldwide, causing financial damage worth billions of U.S. dollars.
The extradition of Chen to China, approved by multiple countries, followed a joint investigation between China and Cambodia. However, details of the investigation have not been publicly disclosed. Chen Zhu had previously been charged by the United States with wire fraud and money laundering.
"This is an ongoing fight, and we have clear measures and steps to eliminate this type of crime," Prak Sokhonn said, adding that Cambodia has consistently taken a clear stance against transnational crime, especially crimes using modern technology such as online scam networks.
Chen Zhu, a billionaire in his late 30s, heads the Prince Group companies based in Cambodia, with seemingly legitimate businesses worldwide. However, U.S. authorities say these businesses are a front for one of the largest investment fraud operations in history.
Previously, Prince Group denied these allegations, stating they were baseless.
Authorities in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan have frozen assets linked to Prince Group worth hundreds of millions of dollars, while the United Kingdom and South Korea have announced sanctions. Additionally, U.S. prosecutors seized about 15 billion U.S. dollars in Bitcoin connected to Chen, and the Cambodian government ordered the liquidation of Prince Bank, which he founded.
It remains unclear what charges Chen Zhu will face in China, although China has had a special task force investigating Prince Group since 2020. Chinese court documents from 2022 indicate such an investigation.
Last week, Chinese state television aired footage showing Chen being escorted to Beijing, handcuffed and hooded, stating he is a suspect in fraud and illegal gambling cases and a leader of a major transnational criminal network involved in gambling and scams.
These scam networks operate from large complexes in several countries, including Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, involving tens of thousands of workers. Among them are human trafficking victims, lured by offers of work in technology or service industries, then forced to scam online victims, with severe punishment for resistance.
Prak Sokhonn said Cambodia cooperates closely with several countries in combating transnational crime, including the United States, China, South Korea, and neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Thailand.
He also revealed that Chen Zhu once held Cambodian citizenship, but investigations found this was obtained improperly, and Chen remains a Chinese citizen, leading the Cambodian government to decide to extradite him to China for prosecution.
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