How a scam empire spread from Cambodia

Chen Zhi's family office website describes the 37-year-old as a 'young business prodigy.' But US and UK authorities say he's behind scam centres being run by forced labour, writes Bloomberg News

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People walk by Prince International Plaza in Phnom Penh. US authorities on Oct 14 unsealed an indictment against Chen Zhi accusing him of running forced labour camps in Cambodia that carried out cryptocurrency fraud schemes.

(AFP)

Three years ago, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen gifted locally crafted luxury wristwatches to other world leaders at the time, including US President Joe Biden, during a regional summit in Phnom Penh.

Each Lotus Tourbillon timepiece was emblazoned with 25 jewels, with the crown-shaped logo of Cambodian conglomerate Prince Holding Group etched into its components. After accepting the watch, Mr Biden transferred it to the US National Archives along with items with a combined value of $1,790.

The gifts - designed and assembled by a watchmaking school started by Prince Group - show how the enterprise and its China-born chairman Chen Zhi entered into the upper echelons of global influence. The 37-yearold worked meticulously to cultivate an image of legitimacy and even philanthropy and built connections with important people and organisations. He accumulated properties ranging from a London office building to luxury apartments in Singapore and Taiwan and oversaw a business empire that stretched from the beaches of Palau to the financial hub of Hong Kong.

That reach is now rapidly unravelling, after US and UK authorities in mid-October accused Mr Chen and his network of running a transnational criminal ring that operated scam centres using forced labour and laundered billions of dollars in stolen funds around the world. The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 146 entities and individuals within the Prince Group, including Mr Chen.