China confirms extradition of scam boss from Cambodia

ACCUSED scam boss Chen Zhi has been extradited to China from Cambodia, Beijing confirmed yesterday, after he was indicted by the US over alleged multibillion-dollar fraud.

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WORKERS ride their motor-cart loaded past a branch of the Prince Bank in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

(Xinhua)

Cambodia said that the bank founded by Chen, Prince Bank, had also been placed under liquidation.

The bank is a subsidiary of Chen's Prince Holding Group, one of Cambodia's biggest conglomerates, which Washington alleges has served as a front for "one of Asia's largest transnational criminal organisations".

China's Ministry of Public Security said Chen had been "escorted" back to China from Phnom Penh and lauded the "major achievement in China-Cambodia law enforcement cooperation".

Chinese authorities will soon issue arrest warrants for "the first batch of key members of Chen Zhi's criminal group, and will resolutely apprehend the fugitives", it said in a statement.

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), the Southeast Asian country's central bank, said Prince Bank had been placed under liquidation and "suspended from providing new banking services, including accepting deposits and providing credit".

It said in a statement auditor Morisonkak MKA has been appointed as liquidator. Prince Bank has about a billion dollars in assets under management, according to its website.