"Even a coin falling from the sky belongs to him"—An exposé of the crimes and twilight of Cambodian "Prince" Tran Chee.

Written by: CoolFish

"There's a saying in Cambodia: 'Even a penny falling from the sky belongs to the Prince Group,'" commented a Cambodian netizen. While this may be an exaggeration, it gives a glimpse into the Prince Group's power in Cambodia.

However, with the heavy blows from multiple countries, this "House of Cards" built on bones and fraud collapsed.

On January 7 , according to the Cambodia China Times, Prince Group boss Chen Zhi was arrested in Cambodia and has been extradited back to China for investigation by relevant authorities. This "business prodigy," who once traveled with a fleet of luxury cars and private jets, even used Picasso paintings to launder money, ultimately could not escape the law.

Last October, the U.S. Department of Justice accused Chen Zhi of orchestrating online fraud that caused billions of dollars in losses to victims worldwide and announced the seizure of Bitcoin worth more than $14 billion.

Huione Group, based in Cambodia, was identified as the main money laundering entity in this operation. As a result, this financial giant, which calls itself the "Alipay of Cambodia," has ceased operations, with notices of suspension of withdrawals posted on its doors.

1. Chen Zhi – short in stature, with a large forehead, speaking with a Fujian accent.

Chen Zhi's story begins in Xiao'ao Town, Lianjiang County, Fuzhou City, Fujian Province. His family was of modest means, and their economic level was considered average in Lianjiang County.

Before going to Cambodia, he worked as a network administrator in China, with various accounts of the specifics. Some fellow villagers claimed he worked as a network administrator in internet cafes in Guangdong and Jiangsu for 2-3 years, and later engaged in data trading and transmission, as well as running dating websites and game-based social networking sites. It is said that he also took advantage of the rise of the online game "Legend of Mir" to form a team to build a private server (pirated server) for the game, earning his first pot of gold.

According to the website of DW Capital Holdings, the Singapore-based fund management company in which he personally invests, Chen Zhi is described as "a young business prodigy." In 2011, Chen Zhi entered the Cambodian real estate market, developing "uncharted waters." He then gradually expanded his business, establishing the Prince Holding Group.

A netizen from Fujian said that many people from his hometown believe that if he hadn't been involved in "European and American online gambling," he wouldn't have gotten into trouble so quickly. Locals can't say exactly when Chen Zhi went to Cambodia, but they "all know it was for fraud."

"People like that should have been arrested long ago."

Second, if we hadn't traded European and American markets, things wouldn't have gone wrong so quickly.

The U.S. Department of Justice's indictment describes Chen Zhi's group as a criminal empire built on forced labor and fraud.

"This is a criminal organization built on the suffering of others. Trafficked laborers are imprisoned in prison-like parks and forced to engage in industrial-scale online scams, causing losses to thousands of victims worldwide."

Documents show that since around 2015, Chen Zhi established and operated at least ten fraud zones throughout Cambodia. These zones were surrounded by high walls and barbed wire, where thousands of cross-border workers seeking employment were trafficked and forced to carry out large-scale online scams under threats of violence.

The indictment specifically names three parks: Jinbei Park, Jinyun Compound, and Jinhong Park.

The defendant, Chen Zhi, was directly involved in the management of these fraud parks and maintained records related to each park, including ledgers tracking profits and detailed records of which rooms were running which fraud schemes. For example, the "cell phone wall" within the park—comprising thousands of cell phones and millions of mobile phone numbers—facilitated various fraud schemes.

In addition, the indictment also states that Chen Zhi directly participated in acts of violence against people in forced labor camps and possessed video footage of the Prince Group using violent methods, including photographs depicting beatings and other forms of torture.

The defendant communicated directly with his subordinates, instructing them to beat those who "caused trouble." In one case, he even explicitly instructed them not to "kill" the victim. (Image available in the lawsuit)

In 2015, he founded Prince Group, which later expanded into various sectors such as banking, finance and tourism, becoming one of Cambodia's largest conglomerates.

In conclusion

In fact, before the joint accusations by the UK and the US, there had been crackdowns on Chen Zhi's gang in China.

In 2020, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau established the "5.27 Task Force" to investigate the "Cambodian Prince Group, a major cross-border online gambling crime syndicate." In 2023, the Wangcang County People's Court in Sichuan Province tried a major cross-border online casino case. The individuals involved were found to have partnered with stakeholders of the Prince Group to operate an online gambling company targeting Chinese citizens, with the amount involved exceeding 5 billion yuan.

With Chen Zhi's arrest and return to China for investigation, the once invincible "Crown Prince" empire finally came to an end.

As a line often uttered in police dramas goes: Justice may be delayed, but it is never absent in the face of final judgment.