A network of at least four organizations running illegal scam centers in Southeast Asia has been sanctioned by the UK and US government.
The sanctions will freeze these businesses and properties some of the network’s operators own in the UK with immediate effect, the UK’s Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) announced on October 14.
The organizations targeted include the Prince Group, a high-profile, multi-billion-pound conglomerate operating casinos and compounds used as scam centers across Cambodia and beyond, and its chairman Chen Zhi, described by the UK government as “the leader of the network.”
“Chen and the Prince Group maintain links to their operations through corporate proxies, and are implicated in laundering the proceeds,” said the FCDO in a statement.
Some proxy organizations are also targeted by the sanctions, including Jin Bei Group, Golden Fortune Resorts World Ltd and Byex Exchange.
Jin Bei Group is a leisure and entertainment business linked to the Prince Group. Jin Bei Group’s properties include a flagship seven-storey hotel and casino in the Cambodian tourist hub of Sihanoukville, as well as multiple scam centers, according to the UK government
Golden Fortune Resorts World Ltd reportedly runs a large scam compound on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, built by a Prince Group subsidiary and disguised as a “technology park.”
Byex Exchange is a cryptocurrency platform with reported links to Jin Bei and Prince Group.
“Horrific” Scam Centers Ruin Lives
These sanctions are the result of extensive investigations by the FCDO and the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
They have found that the network operates scam centers in Cambodia, Myanmar and across Southeast Asia, using fake job adverts to attract foreign nationals to disused casinos or purpose-built compounds, where they are forced to carry out online fraud under threat of torture.
“Scams often involve building online relationships to convince targets to ‘invest’ increasingly large sums of money into fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes. The proceeds are then laundered using a sophisticated financial ecosystem that includes seemingly legitimate front businesses and online gambling platforms,” the UK government statement explained.
The entities of this network have been incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, said the statement.
Additionally, Chen and his enablers reportedly own a £12m ($16m) mansion on Avenue Road, in North London, a £100m ($133.5m) office building on Fenchurch Street in the City of London and seventeen flats on New Oxford Street and in Nine Elms, in South London.
The UK government confirmed that the North London mansion has now been frozen.
The UK Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, commented: “The masterminds behind these horrific scam centers are ruining the lives of vulnerable people and buying up London homes to store their money. 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.”
The UK Fraud Minister, Lord Hanson, said these sanctions prove the determination of the British government to “to stop those who profit from fraudster activity, hold offenders accountable, and keep dirty money out of the UK.”
“Through our new, expanded Fraud Strategy and the upcoming Global Fraud Summit, we will go even further to disrupt corrupt networks and protect the public from shameless criminals,” he announced.
