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Explainer | Who is Cambodia’s Chen Zhi, the ‘untouchable’ tycoon linked to scam hubs?
The Prince Group’s boss is ‘a deeply state-embedded actor in Cambodia’, where he allegedly directed operations of forced labour compounds
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US and UK authorities unveiled sanctions this week against Chen Zhi, a British-Cambodian tycoon accused of running cyber scam operations where workers, some trafficked, carry out transnational fraud schemes that have netted billions of dollars.
Here’s a look at the man, indicted in the US, and his sanctioned company, Prince Holding Group.
Who is Prince Group’s Chen Zhi?
One of Cambodia’s largest conglomerates, Prince Holding Group, has operated across more than 30 countries with interests in real estate, financial services and consumer businesses since 2015.
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The business empire is ubiquitous in the Southeast Asian country, boasting US$2 billion in real estate investments, including a large shopping centre, Prince Plaza, in the capital, Phnom Penh.
Its 37-year-old chairman, Chen Zhi, was born in China, according to media reports, and holds both British and Cambodian citizenship.
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Chen has served as an adviser to Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father, former leader Hun Sen, and holds the government-bestowed honorific neak oknha, meaning “prominent tycoon”.
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