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Chen Zhi (businessman)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In this Chinese name, the family name is Chen.
Neak Oknha
Chen Zhi
陈志
Born (1987-12-16) 16 December 1987 (age 38)[1][2]
Lianjiang County, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China[3]
Citizenship
[9]
OccupationChairman of Prince Holding Group
Years active2015–2025
Known forBusinessman
SpouseLi Caiyun[10]
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese陈志
Traditional Chinese陳志
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinChén Zhì
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUCDìng Cé
WebsitePrince Holding Group

Chen Zhi (Khmer: ចេន ហ្ស៊ី, Chinese: 陈志, born 16 December 1987), also known as Vincent Chen Zhi, is a Chinese-Cambodian businessman and the chairman of the Prince Group. In October 2025, he was sanctioned by the US and UK governments for his involvement in the Prince Group transnational criminal organization case, alleging the group's leadership in multiple cryptocurrency scheme operations that defrauded several billions in US dollars.[11]

Early life

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Chen Zhi was born into an ordinary family in Xiao'ao Town, Lianjiang County, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China. He has an older brother who later went to Cambodia with him. His academic performance was mediocre, and he dropped out of school before finishing junior high.[12] He started his own business by opening a "small internet cafe" in Fuzhou.[2] A few years later, he left his hometown and went to Shanghai to make a living. Around the 2000s, Chen assembled a team to set up a private server for the MMORPG The Legend of Mir 2 and amassed his first fortune.[12]

Career

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Chen Zhi went to Cambodia and invested in the real estate market in 2011. On 16 February 2014, he obtained Cambodian citizenship through an immigrant investor program. In 2015, he founded the Prince Holding Group, which later expanded into various fields such as banking, finance and tourism, becoming one of the largest business groups in Cambodia.[1][11] The company established the "Prince Foundation" in 2015, and the total amount of donations has exceeded US$16 million.[2] The group was headquarted in Sihanoukville as one of the earliest Chinese corporate entities, contributing to the city's economic shift as a seaside resort to a regional gambling centre, later branching out to Phnom Penh and Chrey Thum [es]. Chen was publicly known for his philanthropy, contributing the equivalent of US$3,000,000 to Cambodia's COVID-19 vaccine purchases and funding scholarship programs with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport.[13] The official website of the Prince Group stated that Chen Zhi also actively participated in charity work to help the local Cambodian community develop better.[14] He has served as an advisor to the Ministry of Interior since 2017.[1] In 2017, Chen also became the founding chairman of Cambodia Airways, a position he held until December 2023.[15]

On 20 July 2020, he was awarded the honorary title of Neak Oknha.[1] In 2021, Chen Zhi won the Best Entrepreneur of the Stevie Awards.[16] He has deep connections with several senior Cambodian officials and has served as an advisor to Sar Kheng, Heng Samrin and Hun Sen.[2]

It is still unclear how Chen Zhi accumulated such a huge fortune.[17] Prince Group had been investigated by Chinese police between 2020 and 2022. Since May 2020, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau has set up a special task force to investigate Prince Group. People’s courts in seven different Chinese provinces have ruled[when?] that the various employees of Prince Group have committed gambling, illegal under both Cambodian and Chinese law, and money laundering crimes, but Prince Holding Group and Chen Zhi himself were not prosecuted at the time. The company claimed that it was the result of criminals impersonating it.[1]

In 2021, a consortium led by Chen purchased a 50% stake in Cuba's largest cigar producer Habanos S.A.[18]

According to U.S. authorities, Chen held citizenships of Cambodia, Cyprus, St. Lucia and Vanuatu, and maintained residency in Cambodia, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. After his extradition to China, both Chinese and Cambodian authorities ascribed his original Chinese citizenship to Chen.[11]

Sanctions and criminal charges

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On 14 October 2025, the United States and United Kingdom took the largest action ever targeting cybercriminal networks in Southeast Asia.[6] The U.S. Department of Justice indicted Chen Zhi on charges of fraud and money laundering. The U.S. Department of Justice accused Chen Zhi of being "the mastermind behind a sprawling cyber-fraud empire... a criminal enterprise built on human suffering".[19] In a joint operation between the United States and the United Kingdom, approximately 127,271 bitcoins (currently worth more than $14 billion) held by Chen Zhi were seized.[20][9] At the same time, the U.S. Treasury Department added 146 individuals and entities associated with the Prince Group to the sanctions list.[21] All of Chen Zhi's assets in the UK and 19 properties in London were frozen.[20][22] Thailand and Singapore also began investigations into the Prince Group.[23]

In coordination with the U.S. sanctions, Singapore seized S$150 million in assets; Taiwan seized T$4.5 billion in assets and detained 25; Hong Kong seized HK$2.75 billion.[24]

In January 2026, Cambodia stated that Chen had been arrested, stripped of his Cambodian citizenship, and extradited to China to face charges.[25]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Under Chinese nationality law, China does not recognize multiple nationality, but Cambodian nationality law allow Cambodians have multiple citizenship.[4] Under Cambodian law, a person who obtain oknha title should have Cambodian citizenship.[5] Therefore, Chen's oknha title was lost when his Cambodian nationality had been revoked. A press release published by the U.S. Treasury Department stated that Chen was renounced his Chinese citizenship,[6] and a report stated that this incident occurred in 2014,[7] but the Chinese Public Security Ministry still referred to him as a Chinese citizen in its announcement about Chen arresting.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "第一部分：中国法院调查"臭名昭著"的柬埔寨太子集团" [Part 1: Chinese court investigates the notorious Cambodian Prince Group] (in Chinese). Radio Free Asia. 27 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "Chen Zhi disappears from Cambodia as US exposes fraud and money laundering in crypto" (in Khmer). The Cambodia Daily. 17 October 2025.
  3. ^ "Jiemian Investigation | The $15 Billion Bitcoin Blacklist: The Rise and Fall of Electronic Fraud Kingpin Chen Zhi" (in Chinese). Sina finance. 25 October 2025.
  4. ^ "Cambodian nationality law".
  5. ^ "柬政府颁新令规定 勋爵须履行年捐义务". cc-times.com. 6 September 2024.
  6. ^ a b "U.S. and U.K. Take Largest Action Ever Targeting Cybercriminal Networks in Southeast Asia". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 14 October 2025.
  7. ^ "柬政府确认陈志6日已被遣返回中国，柬国王颁布王令撤销其柬埔寨国籍". Sina. 7 January 2026.
  8. ^ "中柬执法合作取得重大战果 重大跨境赌诈犯罪集团头目陈志被从柬埔寨押解回国". Xinhua. 8 January 2026.
  9. ^ a b ""太子"陈志是何方神圣？他为什么被制裁？" [Who is "Crown Prince" Chen Zhi? Why was he sanctioned?] (in Chinese). Lianhe Zaobao. 17 October 2025.
  10. ^ "Part II: Red flags in Prince Group's offshore transactions" (in Chinese). Radio Free Asia. 17 October 2025.
  11. ^ a b c "Explainer: Who is Chen Zhi, the young tycoon accused of running global cyber scams?". Reuters. 8 January 2026.
  12. ^ a b "Unveiling Chen Zhi: From School Dropout to Billionaire Telecom Fraud Kingpin" (in Chinese). Phoenix. 21 October 2025.
  13. ^ Wu, Huizhong (8 January 2026). "Man extradited from Cambodia to China suspected of running online criminal empire". ABC News. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  14. ^ "Chairman Chen Zhi". Prince Holding Group.
  15. ^ Jack Adamović Davies (11 October 2024). "EXCLUSIVE: Prince Group ties risk tainting Cambodia's first US IPO". Radio Free Asia.
  16. ^ "太子集团主席陈志公爵荣获2021年国际商务大奖（IBA）企业集团类别年度企业家奖" [Prince Group Chairman Chen Zhi was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Conglomerate Category at the 2021 International Business Awards (IBA)] (in Chinese). Jian Hua Daily. 20 August 2021. Archived from the original on 21 October 2025.
  17. ^ "Cypriot Passport Bought by Shadowy Ally of Cambodian Interior Minister". Radio Free Asia. 16 September 2020.
  18. ^ "US-sanctioned businessman Chen Zhi linked to Cuban cigar price surge: Report". The Standard (Hong Kong).
  19. ^ "Chairman of Prince Group Indicted for Operating Cambodian Forced Labor Scam Compounds Engaged in Cryptocurrency Fraud Schemes". U.S. Department of Justice. 14 October 2025.
  20. ^ a b Head, Jonathan (23 October 2025). "The mysterious figure accused of masterminding a $14bn crypto scam". BBC.
  21. ^ "太子集团有多家新加坡关联企业 三关联新加坡人被美制裁" [Prince Group has several Singaporean affiliates, and three related Singaporeans have been sanctioned by the US.] (in Chinese). Lianhe Zaobao. 16 October 2025.
  22. ^ "US, UK sanction huge Southeast Asian crypto scam network". Al Jazeera English. 15 October 2020.
  23. ^ "Thailand, Singapore investigate Chen Zhi's Prince Group after Western fraud allegations". South China Morning Post. 18 October 2020.
  24. ^ "Hong Kong freezes $354 mln of assets tied to Prince Group syndicate". Reuters. 4 November 2025.
  25. ^ "Alleged scam kingpin Chen Zhi arrives in China after extradition from Cambodia". The Guardian. 8 January 2026.
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