Meet The Mysterious Man Accused Of Orchestrating A $14 Billion Global Crypto Scam | World News

The $14 Billion Crypto Specter: Chen Zi is 37 years old but is accused of running a massive cyber fraud empire. This scheme ensnared victims around the world. He looks younger than his age with his thin beard and boyish face. Despite his relatively young age, he accumulated wealth at an astonishing rate.

Last week, the US Department of Justice filed criminal charges against him in Cambodia. Authorities allege he stole billions of dollars of cryptocurrency from victims around the world.

It was claimed that the US Treasury seized Bitcoin worth approximately $14 billion. Authorities say the assets are linked to Zi. This is the largest cryptocurrency seizure in history.

Chen Zi’s Cambodia-based company, Prince Group, describes him as a “respected entrepreneur” on its website.

Government sources told Moneycontrol that the charges were the result of years-long investigations. A senior industry official confirmed no public warning had been issued. “If someone reduces his business or investment, that is his decision,” the official said.

Zi grew up in Southeast China’s Fujian province. He founded an internet gaming company before moving to Cambodia in 2010 or 2011. He entered the real estate business in Phnom Penh.

At the time, Cambodia’s real estate market was booming. Powerful people and Chinese capital fueled rapid growth. While some of the funds came from China’s Belt and Road Initiative, more came from Chinese investors seeking alternatives to rising domestic real estate costs. Chinese tourism to Cambodia was increasing.

Phnom Penh’s skyline has changed rapidly. French colonial villas gave way to towers of glass and steel. Sihanoukville transformed even more dramatically. Casinos, luxury hotels and apartment buildings appeared. High profits attracted entrepreneurs and speculators.

Zi took extraordinary steps. In 2014, he renounced his Chinese citizenship and became a Cambodian citizen. This allowed him to purchase land subject to a minimum investment or government grant of $250,000. The source of their funds remains unclear. He later claimed that an anonymous uncle gave him $2 million in 2011 to start his first real estate company. No evidence available.

He founded Prince Group in 2015, when he was 27 years old. In 2018, he obtained a commercial banking license to establish Prince Bank. In the same year, he received a Cyprus passport with an investment of 2.5 million dollars. He later gained citizenship in Vanuatu.

Zi founded Cambodia’s third airline and received a license to operate a fourth in 2020. He built luxury shopping malls in Phnom Penh and five-star hotels in Sihanoukville. He began work on a $16 billion “eco-city” called Bay of Lights.

In 2020, the King of Cambodia awarded him the “Nek Oknha”, the highest honor that requires a donation of at least $500,000. He became an official advisor to Cambodian Minister of Internal Affairs Sar Kheng and later advised powerful figures including Hun Sen and his son Hun Manet.

Local media praised him as a philanthropist. It provided scholarships to low-income students and contributed to Cambodia’s COVID-19 response. He remained private and rarely spoke publicly.

Journalist Jack Edmovich Davis investigated Zi for three years. His report was published on Radio Free Asia last year. “Those who worked directly with him described him as modest, calm and reserved. He avoided ostentation. Even people who later remained aloof respected him.”

Chen Zi also ran a bank.

The real estate bubble in Sihanoukville burst in 2019. Online gambling has attracted the attention of Chinese criminal gangs. Violent clashes broke out. The tourists fled. The Prime Minister banned online gambling in August 2019 under pressure from China. Approximately 450,000 Chinese left the city. Many of Prince Group’s properties were evacuated.

Zi continued to expand his business interests. British officials say he bought a £12 million mansion and a £9.5 million office building in north London. US officials claim they bought property, a private jet, a superyacht and a Picasso painting in New York. The source of the funds is alleged to be online fraud, human trafficking and money laundering.

The United States and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Chen Zi, Prince Group, 128 companies and 17 individuals in seven countries. Sanctions freeze relevant assets. Investigations detail networks of fake companies and cryptocurrency wallets used to hide the source of money.

US officials say: “Prince Group profits from international crimes. Its activities include racketeering, money laundering, fraud and illegal online gambling. The group also trafficks in forced labor, torture and conducts extortion operations at at least 10 fraud hotspots in Cambodia.”

Zi’s ​​online scams involved smartphone networks. China has been investigating Prince Group since at least 2020. Beijing has formed a task force to investigate online gambling syndicates based in Cambodia.

Golden Fortune Science and Technology Park, near the Vietnam border, is at the center of the investigations. Prince Group denies any past involvement in the fraud and claims there is no current connection. US and British researchers suggest the links remain.

Davis interviewed people who lived and worked near Golden Fortune. They called it beatings and forced participation in online scams. “Chen Zi was running the business on a large scale. Many people should have questioned his asset acquisition in Singapore, London, and US lawyers, bankers and accountants should have stopped him. Nobody did,” Davis said.

Now, after the sanctions, subsidiaries are moving away from each other. The Central Bank of Cambodia has assured depositors access to Prince Bank funds. South Korean authorities seized $64 million in local deposits. Singapore and Thailand are investigating Prince’s subsidiaries. Three of the 18 key people under US and UK scrutiny live in Singapore.

Cambodia has demanded that US and UK officials provide sufficient evidence. It is challenging for Cambodia’s elite to move on from Zi. The country faces pressure to tolerate fraudulent businesses.

Zi disappeared after the sanctions were announced last week. The enigmatic businessman, once among the most powerful people in Cambodia, has disappeared from public view.