Chen Zhi (businessman)

In this Chinese name, the family name is Chen.
Neak Oknha
Chen Zhi
陈志
Born (1987-12-16) December 16, 1987[1][2]
Lianjiang County, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China[3]
Citizenship
[4]
OccupationChairman of Prince Holding Group
Years active2015–present
Known forBusinessman
SpouseLi Caiyun[5]
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese陈志
Traditional Chinese陳志
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinChén Zhì
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUCDìng Cé
WebsitePrince Holding Group

Chen Zhi (Khmer: ចេន ហ្ស៊ី, Chinese: 陈志, born December 16, 1987) also known as Vincent, is a Cambodian businessman of Chinese descent and the chairman of the Prince Group. In October 2025, he was sanctioned by the US and UK governments for his involvement in the Prince Group transnational criminal organization case.

Early life

Chen Zhi was born into an ordinary family in Xiao'ao Town, Lianjiang County, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China. He has an older brother who later went to Cambodia with him. His academic performance was mediocre, and he dropped out of school before finishing junior high.[6] He started his own business by opening a "small internet cafe" in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province.[2] A few years later, he left his hometown and went to Shanghai to make a living. Around the 2000s, the online game The Legend of Mir 2 was very popular in China. He assembled a team to set up a private server for the game and amassed his first fortune.[6]

Career

Chen Zhi went to Cambodia and invested in the real estate market in 2011. On February 16, 2014, he obtained Cambodian citizenship through an immigrant investor program. In 2015, he founded the Prince Holding Group, which later expanded into various fields such as banking, finance and tourism, becoming one of the largest business groups in Cambodia.[1] The official website of the Prince Group stated that Chen Zhi also actively participated in charity work to help the local Cambodian community develop better.[7] The company established the "Prince Foundation" in 2015, and the total amount of donations has exceeded US$16 million.[2] He has served as an advisor to the Ministry of Interior since 2017.[1] In 2017, Chen also became the founding chairman of Cambodia Airways, a position he held until December 2023.[8]

On July 20, 2020, he was awarded the honorary title of Neak Oknha.[1] In 2021, Chen Zhi won the Best Entrepreneur of the Stevie Awards.[9] He has deep connections with several senior Cambodian officials and has served as an advisor to Sar Kheng, Heng Samrin and Hun Sen.[2]

It is still unclear how Chen Zhi accumulated such a huge fortune.[10] Prince Group had been investigated by Chinese police between 2020 and 2022. Since May 2020, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau has set up a special task force to investigate Prince Group. People’s courts in seven different Chinese provinces have ruled that the grassroots and relevant employees of Prince Group have committed gambling and money laundering crimes, but Prince Holding Group and Chen Zhi himself have not been prosecuted. The company claimed that it was the result of criminals impersonating it.[1]

In 2021, a consortium led by Chen purchased a 50% stake in Cuba's largest cigar producer Habanos S.A.[11]

Sanctions and criminal charges

On October 14, 2025, the United States and United Kingdom took the largest action ever targeting cybercriminal networks in Southeast Asia.[12] The U.S. Department of Justice indicted Chen Zhi on charges of fraud and money laundering. The U.S. Department of Justice accused Chen Zhi of being "the mastermind behind a sprawling cyber-fraud empire... a criminal enterprise built on human suffering".[13] In a joint operation between the United States and the United Kingdom, approximately 127,271 bitcoins (currently worth more than $14 billion) held by Chen Zhi were seized.[14][4] At the same time, the U.S. Treasury Department added 146 individuals and entities associated with the Prince Group to the sanctions list.[15] All of Chen Zhi's assets in the UK and 19 properties in London were frozen.[14][16] Thailand and Singapore also began investigations into the Prince Group.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Part 1: Chinese court investigates the notorious Cambodian Prince Group" (in Chinese). Radio Free Asia. March 27, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "Chen Zhi disappears from Cambodia as US exposes fraud and money laundering in crypto" (in Khmer). The Cambodia Daily. October 17, 2025.
  3. ^ "Jiemian Investigation | The $15 Billion Bitcoin Blacklist: The Rise and Fall of Electronic Fraud Kingpin Chen Zhi" (in Chinese). Sina finance. October 25, 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Who is "Crown Prince" Chen Zhi? Why was he sanctioned?" (in Chinese). Lianhe Zaobao. October 17, 2025.
  5. ^ "Part II: Red flags in Prince Group's offshore transactions" (in Chinese). Radio Free Asia. October 17, 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Unveiling Chen Zhi: From School Dropout to Billionaire Telecom Fraud Kingpin" (in Chinese). Phoenix. October 21, 2025.
  7. ^ "Chairman Chen Zhi". Prince Holding Group.
  8. ^ Investigative, Jack Adamović Davies for RFA (October 11, 2024). "EXCLUSIVE: Prince Group ties risk tainting Cambodia's first US IPO". Radio Free Asia.
  9. ^ "Prince Group Chairman Chen Zhigong was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Conglomerate Category at the 2021 International Business Awards (IBA)" (in Chinese). Jian Hua Daily. August 20, 2021. Archived from the original on October 21, 2025.
  10. ^ "Cypriot Passport Bought by Shadowy Ally of Cambodian Interior Minister". RFA. 2020-09-16.
  11. ^ "US-sanctioned businessman Chen Zhi linked to Cuban cigar price surge: Report". The Standard (Hong Kong).
  12. ^ "U.S. and U.K. Take Largest Action Ever Targeting Cybercriminal Networks in Southeast Asia". U.S. Department of the Treasury. October 14, 2025.
  13. ^ "Chairman of Prince Group Indicted for Operating Cambodian Forced Labor Scam Compounds Engaged in Cryptocurrency Fraud Schemes". U.S. Department of Justice. October 14, 2025.
  14. ^ a b Lauren Turner; Xie Quanen (October 16, 2025). "The US and UK jointly seized $14 billion worth of Bitcoin from the Prince Group, with the mastermind behind the seizure, Chen Zhi, implicated in a "huge online fraud empire."" (in Chinese). BBC News Chinese.
  15. ^ "Prince Group has several Singaporean affiliates, and three related Singaporeans have been sanctioned by the US" (in Chinese). Lianhe Zaobao. October 16, 2025.
  16. ^ "US, UK sanction huge Southeast Asian crypto scam network". Al Jazeera English. October 15, 2020.
  17. ^ "Thailand, Singapore investigate Chen Zhi's Prince Group after Western fraud allegations". South China Morning Post. October 18, 2020.
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