War on scams: Asia’s political theatre gets in the way despite record seizures, raids

Scam industry rooted in elite patronage networks, needs political will to counter it

- Philip Wen

It is a sobering thought: The sheer scale, staying power and callous profitability of the global “pig-butchering” scam syndicates - headquartered in Southeast Asia and built on modern-day slave labour - are such that even the largest-ever criminal asset forfeiture could barely make a dent.

The US Department of Justice's seizure of around US$15 billion (S$19.6 billion) worth of Bitcoin was arguably the most eye-catching component of a landmark convergence of criminal charges, sanctions and regulatory measures announced on Oct 14.

It was directed at Cambodian conglomerate Prince Group and its Chinese-born chairman Chen Zhi, accused by US prosecutors of masterminding a “sprawling cyberfraud empire” and industrial-scale money laundering.

Despite the seized cryptocurrency being worth as much as one-third of Cambodia's official gross domestic product, leading experts noted that the industry is endemic and entrenched in elite patronage networks so much so that it would require sustained law enforcement action and political will to undermine the industry's lucrative business model.

They also suggested that even if a major player like Prince Group is removed, there are always others ready to step up and fill the breach.

"This is one of the most significant moments in organised crime, just to be quantifying it as the largest criminal asset forfeiture in history," said Mr Jacob Sims, visiting fellow at Harvard University's Asia Center and a transnational crime expert.

"But in terms of how disruptive that action is going to be on Cambodia's scam economy, that really depends on what happens from here," he added.

The fallout from the Prince Group investigation has continued to reverberate.