Countries across Southeast Asia have moved to take significant action against a company accused of using unused casinos to scam victims on an “industrial scale”.
Authorities in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore have confirmed significant action through the seizure of assets totalling approximately $616m related to Prince Holding Group and its founder Chen Zhi.
‘Keeping dirty money off our streets’
According to a joint report from the UK and US governments, Prince Group is a multi-billion-pound conglomerate based in Cambodia, which is currently facing accusations of constructing casinos and compounds that are being used as scam centres.
The group is alleged to have manipulated victims around the world out of billions of dollars. There is also evidence that the scams are being conducted by foreign nationals who are trafficked and forced to carry out the fraudulent activities under the threat of torture.
Chen, a Chinese-born Cambodian national, has been charged by the US Department of Justice with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy related to Prince Group’s alleged operation of these forced-labour scam compounds across Cambodia.
In total, the UK and US’ joint action has targeted 146 individuals connected to the group and its operations across Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
The two governments have also seized 127,271 bitcoins, worth approximately $15bn, and frozen assets linked to the Prince group, including a number of properties in London.
“Together with our US allies, we are taking decisive action to combat the growing transnational threat posed by this network – upholding human rights, protecting British nationals and keeping dirty money off our streets,” said UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper when the sanctions were announced.
A myriad of seizures
More than 100 business entities registered across Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, have been placed on a sanction list by the US Department of the Treasury because of their alleged links to Chen.
After receiving this information, all three countries chose to undertake action of their own.
In Taiwan, a joint operation between multiple authorities launched 47 simultaneous raids in the country’s capital, Taipei, and seized assets worth $145.7m, including apartments and luxury cars.
Meanwhile, cash, stocks and funds held by individuals and entities believed to be linked to the Prince Group have been frozen by the Hong Kong Police, and Reuters reports that authorities in Singapore recovered $115.9m in funds across six raids.
Indonesia rallies APEC
Elsewhere in Asia, leaders have continued to highlight the threat the region is facing from the illegal gambling market.
Indonesia’s President, Prabowo Subianto, sought to rally members of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), as he urged immediate and effective transnational action against the surge of the illicit gambling market.
During his speech at the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) in South Korea, he warned that the illicit gambling market has led to the weakening of the Indonesian economy.
He detailed that the country’s economy currently loses around $8 billion annually purely as a result of online gambling, as he emphasised the need for APEC to align its technological powers in a bid to battle illicit operators.
The warnings of Subianto aren’t hollow, and they echoed sentiment of a 2024 UN report which emphasised that Southeast Asia has descended into a hub for cybercrime.
