Casino Scam Lord Chen Zhi Extradited to China

Posted on: January 8, 2026, 12:29h. 

Last updated on: January 8, 2026, 12:33h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.
  • Chen Zhi has been extradited from Cambodia to China after US criminal allegations
  • Prince Group accused of scams, trafficking; Treasury cites brutal worker abuse
  • Case tied to huge bitcoin seizure; DOJ calls for record crypto forfeiture

Authorities in Cambodia have extradited Chen Zhi, founder of the notorious Prince Group, to face charges in his native China.

Chen Zhi, Prince Group, Cambodia extradition, cyber scams, bitcoin seizure
Chen Zhi, above, allegedly presided over one of Aisa’s biggest transnational criminal organizations. He was depicted hooded and handcuffed by Chinese state media this week. (Image: Prince Group)

The group is a sprawling conglomerate that owns casinos, property developments, and a commercial bank in Cambodia. It is also alleged to be involved in cyberscams and human trafficking in the Southeast Asian nation and elsewhere, and has been designated a “transnational criminal organization” (TCO) by the US government.

Chen was shown on Chinese state television hooded and handcuffed while being escorted off a plane at Beijing airport by armed officers. He was described in the report as the “leader of a major transnational gambling and fraud crime syndicate.”

Indicted by US

The China-born billionaire was indicted by US and UK authorities in October 2025 on conspiracy charges related to wire fraud and money laundering. At the same time, the DOJ seized around 127K Bitcoin linked to the group, valued at about $15 billion. It’s the largest crypto forfeiture in US history.

Chen’s extradition to China is perhaps surprising because of his reputed ties to the top echelons of Cambodia’s government. But those ties appear to have been transactional rather than protective, and the government was either unable or unwilling to shield him from the regional superpower.

China has stepped up its campaign against Southeast Asian scam operations targeting Chinese citizens, with recent cases resulting in some of the harshest penalties available under Chinese law, including death sentences.

In 2019, under pressure from Beijing, Cambodia banned online casinos, forcing many operators to shut down. Criminal gangs moved quickly to fill the resulting real-estate vacuum with scam compounds, luring workers with promises of legitimate jobs before holding them captive and forcing them to run cyberfraud operations.

These include so-called “pig-butchering” schemes in which victims are coaxed into pouring large sums into bogus investment platforms. Amnesty International has accused the Cambodian government of complicity in the proliferation of such scams.

Barbaric Methods

Meanwhile, thousands of trafficked workers have been imprisoned by debt bondage and threats of violence under such schemes, while being forced to defraud others in operations worth billions to their captors.

[Workers] are subjected to barbaric methods of control at the hands of their captors, including physical abuse, isolation, restriction of movement, arbitrary fines and fees, threats of sexual exploitation, and the confiscation of personal documents and electronics,” the Treasury Department said in an October statement.

“In recent months, numerous reports have surfaced online of people enduring horrific treatment at sites associated with Prince Group TCO,” it added.