Three years ago, at a regional summit, world leaders received luxurious worn watches made in Cambodia. Each watch has the logo carved with the crown of Prince Holding Group - a large corporation in Cambodia.
This gift, designed by a vocational school sponsored by Prince Group, shows how the group and Chairman Chen Zhi have penetrated to the highest levels of the global elite.
At the age of 37, Chen Zhi meticulously built a legitimate image as a philanthropist and established relationships with important figures.
That regime is rapidly collapsing. In mid-October, US and UK authorities accused Chen Zhi and his network of running a transnational criminal ring, operating forced labor fraud centers and laundering billions of dollars.
The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on 146 entities and individuals in the Prince Group. These shocking revelations came as US authorities prosecuted Chen Zhi and seized $15 billion in cryptocurrency ( Bitcoin). The case sheds light on how he and his colleagues have transported octopus across the world.
Chen Zhi's assets stretch across major financial centers. In London, British authorities have frozen a $132 million office building in the old financial area, along with a £12 million villa and 17 other apartments.
In Hong Kong (China), Chen Zhi controlled more than $300 million in assets, including shares in two listed companies, Geotech Holdings and Khoon Group, both of which have been sanctioned by the US.
In Taiwan (China), records show that the group spent about 124 million USD to buy luxury real estates in Taipei in just a few months of 2019.
Chen Zhi's regime even reached the remote island nation of Palau, with land lease and resort establishment.
However, the center of operations appears to be Singapore. Most recently, on October 31, Singaporean police announced that they had seized more than $115 million in assets related to Chen Zhi, including a yacht, 11 cars and wine.
Since 2017, the scammer has spent nearly $30 million on luxury properties here, turning a penthouse into a business "club" with its own karaoke room.
Chen Zhi travels in a Mercedes-Maybach with the license plate "5555" and often parties on the yacht. The family office, DW Capital Holdings, is also located in Singapore.
Analysts say Chen Zhi has been operating "in the eye" of the people for many years. Experts at Harvard say that Prince Group's strong growth is due to its ability to move capital in and out of open financial centers such as Hong Kong (China) and Singapore.
Even with negative information about Prince Group in 2024, major international companies such as Ascott (under CapitaLand) and Radisson Hotel Group are still announcing billion-dollar cooperation projects with the group.
Authorities in Asia are launching new investigations targeting Chen Zhi's fraud ring and business partners who have also begun terminating their contracts.
