The head of the largest scam network in Southeast Asia wanted by the US has been extradited by Cambodia to China on Wednesday (Jan. 7) which an analyst says is a calculated move by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular news conference on Thursday (Jan. 8) that combating online gambling and telecom fraud is a shared international responsibility and China has strengthened law enforcement cooperation with Cambodia and other countries to crack down on cross-border telecom fraud, yielding notable results,” according to Chinese state-owned media China Daily.
The CCP has not issued a warrant of arrest for Chen at the time of his extradition.
“A ministry official said public security authorities will soon issue a wanted notice for the first batch of core members of Chen’s syndicate and vowed to bring all fugitives to justice,” the Chinese media added.
Tang Jingyuan, a veteran China affairs analyst told the NTD, “In my view, the arrest and extradition of Chen Zhi is essentially a show staged by the Chinese Communist Party in Cambodia. This allows China to achieve two goals at once.”
“On the one hand, this is China’s attempt to save their diplomatic image globally, claiming that they too are cracking down on online fraud.”
He said, “On the other hand, this approach effectively protects Chen Zhi by preventing him from falling into the hands of the United States.”
Tang added that it is now very difficult for the US government to apprehend Chen now that he is in CCP’s custody.
Tang speculates that this may be exactly what the CCP wanted to prevent the US from further investigating Chen.
“Chen has connections to the Cambodian regime and authorities. Chen also has very deep connections to the CCP. He is closely linked to the CCP’s political and legal apparatus.”
“For these reasons, it is highly unlikely that the CCP would hand Chen Zhi directly over to the United States because once he arrives, Chen could reveal a great deal of information that would be extremely damaging to the CCP,” Tang added.
In October last year, the U.S. and U.K. jointly sanctioned Chen’s Cambodia-based business, the Prince Group as well as his accomplices, in what they described as the “largest action ever targeting cybercriminal networks in Southeast Asia.” They accused Chen Zhi of operating a transnational criminal empire through online investment scams targeting Americans and others worldwide.
According to a readout on the sanction, “Americans lost at least $10 billion to Southeast Asia-based scam operations in 2024, a 66 percent increase over the prior year” with a significant proportion of scams perpetrated by Prince Group.
US authorities also seized Chen’s businesses, nearly 130,000 bitcoins worth US$15 billion in their largest ever crypto bust.
The Cambodian authorities did not hand Chen over to the US authorities since the announcement of the US sanctions.
Born in China, Chen moved to Cambodia in 2011 and set up Prince Group at only 27 years old where he built a business empire in Cambodia spanning property development, commercial banking, Cambodian airline, hotels and the $16 billion “eco-city” known as the “Bay of Lights.” Chen was appointed as a senior advisor to Cambodia’s former Prime Minister Hun Sen, the father of the current prime minister Hun Manet. In 2020, Chen was awarded the highest title bestowed by Cambodia’s king, that of “Neak Oknha.”
Chen has links to the CCP, according to a former Chinese spy who worked for the CCP’s top intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security.
The spy recently told Radio Canada International that the CCP helped him land a manager role at Prince Group, a role that served as a cover for the CCP’s covert operations.
He said one of his primary tasks was tracking Chinese dissidents both at home and abroad.
Taking action against the dissidents when necessary was also part of his role, he added.
