Chen Zhi (38 years old) was arrested in Cambodia and extradited to China in early January, along with two other Chinese citizens. According to Chinese police, Chen Zhi was prosecuted on charges of operating illegal casinos, fraud, illegal business and concealing illegal money.
Chen Zhi's case is closely monitored internationally by many countries that have taken related legal measures.
In October last year, the US prosecuted Chen Zhi for conspiracy to cheat telecommunications and money laundering, and seized about 15 billion USD of bitcoins believed to be under his control.
Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong (China) and Taiwan (China) have frozen assets or arrested individuals related to Prince Holding Group - a corporation associated with Chen Zhi.
Observers believe that the main reason why China is particularly eager to bring Chen Zhi back to the country is because the large number of victims are believed to be Chinese citizens.
In recent years, telecommunications fraud, online gambling and cross-border cybercrime in Southeast Asia have become a serious security issue for China, causing great financial and social damage.
Beijing has continuously promoted sweep operations, while strengthening cooperation with countries in the region to bring suspects back to the country for handling.
In the past decade, Prince Group, established by Chen Zhi in Cambodia, has appeared many times in court cases in China related to cross-border gambling. The judgments show that these lines target Chinese players, opening domestic bank accounts to circulate cash flow.
A case handled by the Sichuan provincial prosecuting agency recorded illegal profits of up to 5 billion yuan (704 million USD), with 124 defendants convicted in 2023. Although Chen Zhi was not directly named in those judgments, documents show a connection between the convicted subjects and Prince Group's business ecosystem.
After Cambodia issued a complete ban on online gambling in 2019, many organizations were accused of shifting to online fraud, a field considered to bring higher profits.
Researchers believe that online gambling and online scams often coexist, sharing infrastructure and industrial parks, making investigation and dismantling complicated.
Another factor that makes China want to deal with Chen Zhi domestically is sensitive economic and investment connections. Some of Prince Group's real estate projects in Cambodia involve Chinese state-owned construction enterprises and were once described by mainstream media as linked to regional economic cooperation.
Experts believe that if Chen Zhi is extradited to the US or the UK, these details could have a negative impact on Beijing's image.
In addition, the handling of Chen Zhi's cryptocurrency assets is also a major challenge. China does not recognize cryptocurrency as a legal means of payment and considers all related transactions to be illegal.
However, in recent cases, Chinese authorities have coordinated with other legal areas, especially Hong Kong (China), to value, sell and recover cryptocurrency assets for public funds or to return to victims.
