The sanctioned head of Cambodia’s Prince Group — which the U.S. has dubbed a “transnational criminal organization” — has been extradited to China, officials said in a statement today.
Prince Group Chairman Chen Zhi was arrested on January 6 along with two other people, Cambodia’s ministry of interior said in a statement.
The arrests came after “several months of joint investigative cooperation” with China, the ministry said, adding that Chen Zhi’s Cambodian citizenship had been revoked.
Chen Zhi was also targeted in a sweeping sanctions package announced by both the U.S. Treasury Department and the U.K’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office on October 14. Authorities in both countries accused the Prince Group of involvement in online fraud and human trafficking.
The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment on October 14, accusing Chen Zhi of being behind “forced-labor scam compounds across Cambodia in which workers were made to execute the scams at high volumes.”
China's state-owned news agency, Xinhua, reported on January 8 that Chen Zhi and his "criminal gang" are suspected of crimes including running fraud operations and concealing the proceeds. China's Ministry of Public Security is preparing arrest warrants for other members of the organization, Xinhua reported.
Cambodia’s interior ministry said Chen Zhi was arrested and extradited to China “within the scope of cooperation in combating transnational crime.”
Chen Zhi’s legal representatives did not respond to a request for comment. The Prince Group has said the allegations made by U.S. and U.K. authorities are “baseless and appear aimed at justifying the unlawful seizure of assets worth billions of dollars.”
The other Prince Group associates targeted by sanctions include a man the U.S. Treasury Department named as Chen Xiao’er. OCCRP revealed in December that Chen Xiao’er was only one of at least three aliases used by a Chinese man born as Hu Xiaowei, who was allegedly a key Prince Group player.
He also holds about $45-million worth of property in the U.K., and controls a vast global portfolio of investments, OCCRP reported.
Another sanctioned Prince Group associate, Zhu Zhongbiao, purchased at least 29 prestige properties in Dubai, while his wife bought five luxury apartments in London, OCCRP reporting shows.
**This story has been updated with a report from China's state news agency, Xinhua.
