The group of companies involved in Chen Zhi has filed a lawsuit in court to unfreeze the funds in accounts at Malayan Bank and revolut under the names of four companies in Singapore.
This information is in documents collected by Bloomberg News and confirmed by the lawyer representing Ms. Karen Chen Xiuling - Director and Chief Financial Officer of the family asset management office of DW Capital Holding of scammer Chen Zhi.
The lawsuit was filed in Singapore with the family asset management office of DW Capital Holding, logistics company Capital Zone warehousing, and two other private enterprises, Skyline Investment Management and Citylink Solutions.
Lawyer Clarence Lun Yaodong, representative of Karen Chen, said the petition for a court to allow limited disbursement to pay staff salaries, attorney fees, office rent, electricity and water and some other expenses.
The freezing orders have seriously affected, especially employees and their families, who are directly dependent on this source of income. Despite the worrying situation, we still respect the ongoing investigation and believe the court will make the appropriate decision at the right time," Karen Chen said in a statement sent via representative on November 13.
US officials said that under Chen Zhi, Karen Chen supervised companies under Prince Group located in Mauritius, Taiwan (China) and Singapore.
We have no further comment other than confirming that our customer has denied all false allegations, said Clarence Lun Yaodong.
Last month, Chen Zhi, Prince Group in Cambodia and many related individuals and businesses were sanctioned by the US. Karen Chen is also on the list of US sanctions along with Chen Zhi.
The US Treasury Department accused the 37-year-old businessman of leading a transnational criminal ring that operates online fraud centers, embezzling billions of dollars from victims around the world and laundering billions of dollars. The US also prosecuted Chen Zhi and seized $15 billion in Bitcoin under the control of the founder of Prince Group.
Following the US move, in late October, Singaporean authorities seized $115 million in assets related to Chen Zhi and Prince Group, including real estate, luxury cars and bank accounts.
Earlier this week, Prince Group spoke for the first time, declaring "completely abandoning all allegations that the group or Chairman Chen Zhi are involved in any illegal acts".
Prince Group said that recent allegations are baseless and appear to be aimed at legalizing the seizure of the multibillion-dollar asset complex, stressing that this has caused unnecessary harm to thousands of employees, partners and communities that the group serves.
Prince Group hired US law firm Boies Schiller Flexner to seek a way to recover the seized Bitcoin, arguing that the money was stolen.
