Who is Chen Zhi? Fujian-born Cambodian Neak Oknha, dubbed the “king of global scams,” whose 120,000 BTC were seized by the U.S.

Author｜Aki WuBlockchain

Chen Zhi is a China-born businessman, aged 37. He is the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group, one of Cambodia’s largest conglomerates, and is regarded as one of the country’s most influential tycoons. Reports say Chen holds dual citizenship in the U.K. and Cambodia, served as an adviser to two prime ministers, Hun Sen and Hun Manet, and was awarded an honorary “duke” title by the government—making him a fixture in the country’s political and business elites.

Recently, the U.S. and U.K. governments imposed joint sanctions on Chen and Prince Holding Group. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged him with wire fraud and money laundering, and seized more than US$15 billion in bitcoin, calling it “one of the largest financial frauds in history.” Drawing on public reporting and U.S./U.K. legal filings, this article unpacks how Chen rose to become the “godfather” of Cambodia and the intricate money-and-power networks behind him.

From Internet Café Owner to Real-Estate Tycoon

Born in December 1987 in Fujian, China, Chen Zhi started out in small ventures. According to companies he invested in, he showed an early knack for business, helped with his family enterprise, and even founded an internet café. Around 2011, Chen set his sights on Southeast Asia, relocating to Cambodia to ride the country’s property boom.

After moving to Cambodia, Chen capitalized on economic liberalization and the wave of inbound Chinese investment, rapidly expanding his business footprint. In 2015, he founded Prince Holding Group and, within a few years, built it into one of Cambodia’s largest conglomerates. The group initially centered on real-estate development, with projects across the country—from Phnom Penh to Preah Sihanouk (Sihanoukville). Notably, its developments helped transform Sihanoukville from a quiet seaside town into a casino-packed boomtown, earning Chen hundreds of millions of dollars in returns.

After real-estate success, he pushed into financial services, first launching a microfinance institution and later obtaining a commercial banking license in 2018 to establish Prince Bank. In just a few years, Chen went from an obscure young Chinese entrepreneur to a Cambodian business magnate worth billions.

Today, the Prince Holding Group under Chen Zhi’s control spans multiple lines of business, including real estate, financial services, and consumer products. Key subsidiaries include Prince Real Estate Group, Prince Huan Yu Real Estate Group, and Prince Bank. The group’s footprint extends across Cambodia and claims operations in more than 30 countries and regions. According to Lianhe Zaobao, Prince Group’s total real-estate investment in Cambodia has reached USD 2 billion, with landmark projects such as the Prince Plaza shopping mall in Phnom Penh. Chen also engages in high-profile philanthropy through the group’s charitable arm, the Prince Foundation; the corporate website describes him as a “respected entrepreneur and prominent philanthropist.” Behind this glossy corporate façade, however, lies a strikingly darker reality.

Prince Holding Group and the “Pig-Butchering” Scam

On the surface, Prince Holding Group’s business spans traditional sectors such as real estate and banking. But according to U.S. law-enforcement investigations, behind that façade sits a sprawling transnational fraud network built around so-called “pig-butchering” scams. A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment lays out the operating model of this fraud empire in detail: Chen Zhi allegedly directed the Group to establish at least ten large-scale scam compounds across Cambodia, where migrant workers from multiple countries were detained and forced to run fraud operations. Through investment grifts including “pig-butchering,” the network inflicted massive losses worldwide—especially on U.S. victims—triggering U.S. criminal charges and sanctions. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) announced parallel sanctions the same day against Chen, Prince Holding Group, and associates, freezing high-value London properties tied to them (including a ~£12 million mansion on Avenue Road, an office building on Fenchurch Street valued around £100 million, and multiple apartments).

These compounds functioned like sealed “high-tech fraud mills.” Inside, “phone farms” equipped with hundreds or thousands of phones and computers controlled tens of thousands of fake social-media accounts used to defraud victims worldwide. Workers trafficked into these sites effectively lived as prisoners: confined to the compounds and threatened with violence and even torture if they refused to carry out the scams. A U.S. Assistant Attorney General described the criminal enterprise as “built on human misery,” and investigators confirmed elements of human trafficking, with workers forcibly confined in prison-like camps to perpetrate fraud.

To launder illicit proceeds, the Group also ran large-scale money-laundering operations through affiliated entities—for example, routing funds via its online gambling platforms and Bitcoin mining businesses (ironically, this later paved the way for the U.S. seizure of roughly $15 billion in Bitcoin tied to their illegal gains). They further set up shell companies in offshore financial centers such as the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and parked the funds in overseas real estate to obscure the money trail.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Chen Zhi understood perfectly well that money talks: he and his associates leveraged political influence and bribery to shield the scam industry from interference, paying off corrupt officials in exchange for protection. All of this helped morph Prince Holding Group into what the U.S. government has called “one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organizations.”

Ties to Cambodian Politics: The Neak Oknha Honorific and the “Prince” Status

Chen Zhi is not only a business magnate in Cambodia but is also deeply embedded in the country’s power circles. After naturalizing as a Cambodian citizen, he leveraged wealth and connections to gain government recognition and favor. In 2017, he was appointed—by royal decree—as an adviser to the Ministry of Interior, a role equivalent in rank to a senior government official. Soon after, reports emerged that he had become a personal adviser to then–Prime Minister Hun Sen, providing counsel directly to the top leadership. Even after Hun Sen stepped down in 2023 and his son Hun Manet became prime minister, Chen was reportedly retained as an adviser, underscoring his continuous influence across administrations.

In business circles, he also received a symbolic honor. In July 2020, for his contributions to Cambodia’s economic development, the government conferred upon him the Neak Oknha honorific, with Prime Minister Hun Sen personally presenting the decoration. This title carries high prestige in Cambodia: it is among the top civilian honors bestowed by the monarchy upon those making significant donations and social contributions, and it is formally conferred by royal order. From that point, Chen was addressed by an honorific in official settings, further consolidating his prominent status in Cambodian society. No longer just an overseas Chinese entrepreneur, he became the locally revered Neak Oknha Chen Zhi.

In terms of standing and networks, Chen has been a favored insider in Cambodia’s halls of power—enjoying the trust of top leaders and moving easily in elite circles. At the height of his influence, he commanded vast wealth, benefited from proximity to state power, and burnished his public image through philanthropy and ties to academia—becoming a household name across Cambodia.

After being conferred the Neak Oknha honorific, Chen Zhi is pictured with then–Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (far right).

After the sudden wave of U.S.–U.K. sanctions, this “political–business honeymoon” has come under strain. Following the revelations, the Cambodian government struck a cautious tone. A Ministry of Interior spokesperson stressed that Prince Holding Group “has always operated in compliance with the law” in Cambodia and is treated no differently from other major investors. Officials also said Chen Zhi’s acquisition of Cambodian citizenship followed lawful procedures. At the same time, authorities stated they would cooperate with evidence-based formal requests from other countries and “will not shelter lawbreakers.”

Notably, however, the Cambodian government has so far neither brought charges against nor opened a domestic investigation into Chen Zhi or Prince Holding Group. Some analysts believe this reflects the lingering influence of Chen’s deeply rooted local network, prompting a cautious stance toward the case. Chen’s deep embedment within Cambodia’s elite—and the robust protection it appeared to afford—underscores the country’s role as a hotbed for online fraud. Yet as international pressure mounts, Chen’s once comfortable Cambodian “safe haven” may prove unsustainable.

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