The UK and US have imposed sanctions on a multinational network based in Southeast Asia, accused of running large-scale online scam operations that are believed to using trafficked workers to defraud individuals globally.
This industry has flourished in the past few years, particularly in parts of Myanmar and Cambodia where hundreds of thousands have been deceived by false job adverts and then coerced to commit online fraud, including romance scams, sometimes under the menace of torture.
The US treasury department stated it had taken what it called the largest action ever in Southeast Asia, targeting 146 people associated with the Prince Group, which the United Kingdom also penalized.
Those targeted comprise the head of the Prince group, Chen Zhi, as well as more than a dozen individuals connected to his commercial activities throughout Southeast Asia and Pacific regions.
According to authoritative sources, the individual in question, thirty-eight, also known as “Vincent”, is the leader and establisher of Prince Holding Group (Prince Group), a global corporate entity based in Cambodia which, according to its website, is centered around “real estate development, financial services and consumer services”.
On 14 October, American officials stated that Chen, who is still evading capture, had been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering conspiracy for directing the group's activities of fraud centers using coerced labor throughout the country.
His swift rise to riches has gained him substantial clout, comprising alleged consulting positions to the nation's leader. Chen, born in China in 1987, is believed to have acquired nationality in Vanuatu and Cyprus, and is also a citizen of Cambodia.
The Department of Justice alleged individuals had been forcibly detained in the fraudulent operation centers linked with the syndicate and made to engage in a range of fraudulent schemes that stole massive sums from targets in the US and globally.
As part of the investigation into the leader, the United States and UK have confiscated $15 billion (£11.3bn) in cryptocurrency and frozen London assets.
The seized assets are believed to comprise a £12m mansion on Avenue Road, one of the costliest locations in London, a £95m office block on a key financial avenue in the heart of the London's banking area, and several flats in downtown London.
“Today the FBI and partners executed one of the largest financial fraud takedowns in history,” said FBI director the official in a announcement about the measures.
Based on the senior justice official, the accused was the supposed “mastermind behind a vast digital scam network functioning under the group's banner”. He was placed on a US sanctions list this month together with over a dozen other individuals suspected of being participating in his business empire.
Over a hundred business entities – based in multiple Asian jurisdictions and more – were also added to a sanctions list because of alleged links to the leader.
Cambodia’s interior ministry spokesperson told news agencies that the government would work together with other countries in the case against the individual.
“We are not protecting individuals that violate the law,” the official said. “But it does not mean that we blame Prince Group or Chen Zhi of engaging in illegal acts like the allegations issued by the United States or UK.”
In spite of the unprecedented tranche of sanctions, analysts say the fraud sector is still enormous, with the UN calculating in recent years that about a hundred thousand individuals were being forced to carry out online scams in the nation, as well as at least 120,000 in the neighboring country and many thousands in other Southeast Asian states.
Given the prevalence of the industry in multiple south-east Asian countries, certain fear any arrests will leave a vacuum for additional global syndicates to swoop in.
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