Businessman extradited from Cambodia to China suspected of running vast online criminal empire

BANGKOK (AP) — Chen Zhi boasted of pulling in $30 million a day, prosecutors in the United States said — a suspected criminal mastermind and onetime internet cafe manager who authorities say presented himself as a legitimate businessman.

But in reality, they say, he ran online gambling sites, измами и други противозаконни бизнеси от разпилян щаб по крайбрежието на Камбоджа.

On Thursday, Chen was in custody in China, at the center of what authorities at the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said was a “major achievement ” in law enforcement cooperation between them and the Cambodian government. Министерството сподели, че Чен е арестуван и че скоро ще издаде заповеди за арест на основни играчи в неговата мрежа.

Китайската полиция изпрати Чен от полет на China Southern с платнено було на главата и ръце, оковани във вериги. They pulled off the black cloth, showing his clean-shaven face after he reached the ground, in a video shared by China’s Ministry of Public Security’s criminal investigations division.

Chen was the founder of Prince Holding Group, according to an indictment from U.S. prosecutors. Експерти по транснационална престъпност го нарекоха един от най-големите оператори на онлайн измами в Камбоджа. Той обществено отхвърли всевъзможни обвинявания в непозволени дейности.

Уважаван в камбоджанското общество

Обществено Чен Джи беше почитан предприемач в Камбоджа.

He had built up “at least a facade of legitimate businesses that are well connected to the government, ” said Mark Taylor, who formerly worked on human trafficking issues in Cambodia for the nonprofit Winrock International.

Much of the public connection was in the realm of philanthropy — in particular creating a charity known as the Prince Foundation. По време на пандемията Чен подари 3 милиона $ на Камбоджа, с цел да помогне за закупуването на ваксини против COVID-19.

“I would like to express my deepest appreciation for your kindness, ” then Prime Minister Hun Sen wrote, according to a published letter in the Khmer Times. „ Нека Буда благослови вас, вашето семейство и вашите сътрудници с петте шанса! “

Chen held the title of personal adviser to Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father, Hun Sen. Chen also had the honorary title of “neak oknha, ” a moniker reserved for a select few in the country.

Chen had also sponsored scholarships, working with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in a $2 million scholarship program. More uniquely, he’s also the founder of Prince Horology, where students on scholarships are taught the art of Swiss-style watchmaking, a benchmark for luxury watches.

On the radar for a while

Chen comes from a county called Lianjiang in southeastern China’s Fujian province, according to Jiemian, a Chinese state media outlet. Преди това той е работил като управител на интернет кафене, когато е започвал.

Неговият напредък в Камбоджа беше метеоритичен. Чен беше споделил, че е почнал със заем от чичо в бизнеса с недвижими парцели. He founded Prince Group in 2015, and the group built up Sihanoukville from a sleepy Cambodian beach town into a larger community that came to be known as a gambling and scam hub, according to Radio Free Asia.

But Chen’s Prince Group has long been on the radar of authorities both in the U.S. and in China for their alleged illegal activities.

Court documents in China show Prince Group is mentioned in at least a dozen judgments, mostly concerned with money laundering and online gambling. Хазартът е неразрешен в континентален Китай и е позволен единствено в Макао, специфичен административен район.

Prosecutors in the western Chinese province of Sichuan sentenced 45 people to jail in a case for setting up illegal online gambling, where they said Chen had worked with Prince Group to set up an online gambling business targeting Chinese nationals as early as 2016. The group set up subsidiary companies in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh and Chrey Thum, according to the statement from Окръжен съд Wangcang.

Съществуват и следи от споменавания на връзки на Prince Group с цифрови измами. In a major case prosecuted in 2020, police in Anhui province busted a fraud cause involving about 30 million Chinese yuan ($4.3 million) traced to scam compounds operating in Cambodia.

Според правосъдното решение един мъж, забъркан в тази ситуация, е бил нает като охранител на лъжлива постройка, ситуирана в Пном Пен. Преди да стартират работата си, те са отишли ​​да се записват в офиса на Prince Holding Group, сподели той пред съда.

In the United States, federal prosecutors in October unsealed an indictment against Chen for defrauding Americans and victims across the world of billions. До този миг той е имал паспорти от Китай, Камбоджа, Вануату, Кипър и Сейнт Лусия, съгласно обвиняването.

Chen also personally managed the scam compounds and maintained records that tracked the profits from “pig butchering ” scams, the Chinese term for the illegal practice, the prosecutors said.

It was unclear if U.S. authorities knew about, or had any say in, Chen’s extradition to China.