Cambodia Freezes Nearly $1 Billion in Prince Group Assets as Global Scam Cases Widen

Bank Accounts, Casinos and Thousands of Properties Frozen

Cambodian courts have frozen nearly US$1 billion in assets linked to Prince Group, including more than US$300 million in bank accounts, as investigators pursue allegations that casinos and other businesses concealed online scam operations. The action reaches buildings, thousands of real estate properties and movable assets associated with the group founded by Chen Zhi.

Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith, permanent vice chairman and head of the secretariat of Cambodia's Commission for Combating Technology-enabled Scams, disclosed the measures on October 21, 2026. He said investigators had mapped 198 companies connected to the group: 98 registered in Cambodia and 100 operating overseas.

The investigation brings together property, banking and criminal cases across several countries. Cambodia is seeking international help to locate at least 29 fugitives, while the United States is pursuing a separate forfeiture case involving approximately 127,271 Bitcoin valued at about US$15 billion when the American action was announced in October 2025.

For Cambodia, the immediate decision is how to preserve and manage a large collection of assets while courts examine allegations of aggravated fraud committed by an organised group and aggravated money laundering. Prince Group has denied wrongdoing. The charges remain allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless convicted.

What Happens to the Frozen Assets?

Cambodian authorities are reviewing the legal grounds and evidence for managing the frozen bank funds and properties. Sinarith said possible measures include temporary state administration and an eventual transfer into state ownership, subject to court decisions.

A freeze restricts the movement or disposal of assets while a case proceeds. Confiscation permanently removes ownership through a legal process. Cambodia's courts still have to decide whether the assets will ultimately become state property.

The distinction matters for a portfolio that includes operating premises as well as money. Securing a bank account and administering buildings or casinos require different practical arrangements. The authorities have not announced a timetable for final ownership decisions or a plan for distributing any recovered money to victims.

Why Casinos Are Central to the Investigation

Sinarith said buildings and casino premises operating under the names of companies affiliated with Prince Group had been used to conceal online scam operations. Authorities identified 28 casino locations as implicated in criminal activity, with investigations continuing into businesses allegedly used as cover.

An official update from state news agency Agence Kampuchea Presse recorded 18 casino licences revoked and nine suspended as of August 31, 2026. Earlier in October, the government announced nationwide casino inspections to enforce Cambodia's ban on online gambling.

Those measures address both physical premises and the permissions needed to run gambling businesses. Revocation ends a licence, while suspension temporarily stops its use. The licence totals cover the wider enforcement campaign; authorities have not identified every affected venue as belonging to Prince Group.

The US Justice Department describes a related financial mechanism in its case against Chen: prosecutors allege that fraud proceeds moved through businesses that appeared legitimate, including online gambling and cryptocurrency mining operations. Cambodia's investigation into casinos therefore intersects with a broader effort to trace how money allegedly moved from victims into commercial assets.

Who Is Being Pursued?

Cambodian courts have issued arrest warrants for 32 people and placed four others under judicial supervision, according to Sinarith. Investigators are also working to identify five additional suspects and trace further assets believed to be connected to criminal activity.

The minister named six alleged leaders who had been arrested and referred for court proceedings: Chen Zhi, Li Song, Liu Yin, Eng Dara, Eang Soklim and Huang Ron. Chen was extradited to China in January 2026, where he faces fraud and illegal gambling charges.

Eng Dara, a former director of Jin Bei Group, faced British and American sanctions in 2025 over suspected involvement in scam centres accused of using forced labour. Eang Soklim has been identified as the figurehead of a scam compound in Prey Veng province.

Cambodia has begun procedures to request INTERPOL Red Notices for at least 29 people believed to have fled abroad. A Red Notice asks police internationally to locate and provisionally arrest a person while extradition or another legal process is arranged. Each country applies its own law when deciding how to respond.

Sinarith said Cambodian investigators are exchanging intelligence with the FBI, China's Ministry of Public Security and other international partners. With 100 of the 198 identified companies operating overseas, evidence and assets extend well beyond Cambodian jurisdiction.

How the Case Developed Across Borders

Chen's position changed sharply between late 2025 and early 2026. The businessman, who previously advised Prime Minister Hun Manet and former Prime Minister Hun Sen, lost his Cambodian citizenship before being sent to China. His banking business also came under regulatory action.

The main developments span more than a year:

• July 2025: Cambodia began the period covered by its latest national figures on investigations into online scam locations.
• October 14, 2025: US prosecutors unsealed an indictment against Chen in Brooklyn and announced a civil forfeiture complaint involving approximately 127,271 Bitcoin. American and British sanctions were also announced.
• December 2025: Chen's Cambodian citizenship was revoked by royal decree.
• January 6, 2026: Chen had been arrested in Cambodia and extradited to China.
• January 8, 2026: The National Bank of Cambodia ordered Prince Bank, the lender founded by Chen, into liquidation.
• August 31, 2026: Cambodia's casino enforcement update recorded 18 licences revoked and nine suspended.
• October 21, 2026: Sinarith disclosed the asset freezes and the expanding investigation into Prince Group.

Liquidation places a bank into a process for winding up its affairs and handling its assets and obligations. The Prince Bank order adds a banking process to the criminal investigations and property restrictions surrounding Chen's business network.

What US Prosecutors Allege Happened Inside the Compounds

The US Justice Department's October 2025 announcement describes allegations that Prince Group operated compounds in Cambodia where trafficked workers were held against their will and forced to conduct cryptocurrency investment fraud.

Prosecutors say workers contacted people through messaging and social media applications, built relationships over time and persuaded them to transfer cryptocurrency using false promises of investment profits. The money was then stolen and moved through laundering networks.

The allegations describe two groups of people harmed by the same operation: people whose savings were taken and workers compelled to carry out the scams. The Justice Department says hundreds of workers were trafficked into compounds surrounded by high walls and barbed wire, with violence used to control them.

Joseph Nocella Jr., the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, described the scale of the alleged operation when the indictment was announced:

As alleged, the defendant directed one of the largest investment fraud operations in history, fueling an illicit industry that is reaching epidemic proportions.

Prosecutors allege that Chen directly managed compound operations and maintained records tracking profits and the fraudulent schemes run from particular rooms. They also describe automated facilities using thousands of phones and millions of telephone numbers to support the scams.

How Investigators Say the Money Moved

The Justice Department alleges that Prince Group used professional money laundering operations and its own businesses to move fraud proceeds. Money laundering means disguising where illegally obtained money came from so it can circulate as apparently legitimate funds.

In the American case, prosecutors describe cryptocurrency being split among many digital addresses and then gathered into fewer addresses. Repeated transfers can make the route from an original payment to its eventual holder harder to follow.

Some proceeds allegedly reached cryptocurrency exchanges or were converted into ordinary currency and placed in bank accounts. Prosecutors say other funds remained in cryptocurrency wallets controlled through private keys held by Chen. A private key is the secret credential used to authorise transfers from a wallet.

The indictment also alleges that money was spent on yachts, private jets, vacation homes, watches and artwork, including a Picasso painting purchased through a New York auction house. A network operating in Brooklyn allegedly helped transfer and launder millions of dollars from more than 250 victims across New York and elsewhere in the United States.

The US Treasury designated Prince Group a transnational criminal organisation in October 2025 and imposed sanctions on Chen and associated people and entities. Britain announced sanctions at the same time. These financial restrictions operate alongside the criminal and asset recovery proceedings.

The Bitcoin Case and Other Overseas Assets

The American civil forfeiture complaint concerns approximately 127,271 Bitcoin already in US government custody when the Justice Department announced its case. Officials valued the cryptocurrency at about US$15 billion in October 2025 and described the filing as the department's largest forfeiture action.

By March 2026, the same approximate quantity was valued at around US$9 billion, reflecting changes in Bitcoin's market price. Blockchain tracing firm Elliptic linked the coins to LuBian, a cryptocurrency mining operation with ties to China and Iran.

The forfeiture proceedings remain unfinished. The Justice Department has rejected claims submitted by lawyers representing hundreds of alleged scam victims. Control of seized assets and the process for deciding ownership are central to whether victims can recover money.

Hong Kong's High Court has also frozen about US$1.1 billion in deposits, properties and shares associated with Chen. Britain has frozen London mansions tied to alleged Prince Group associate Hu Xiaowei.

These proceedings involve different assets, legal systems and valuation dates. In Cambodia, judges are considering the management and possible confiscation of local property and bank funds. In the United States, the government is pursuing ownership of cryptocurrency through a civil case alongside Chen's criminal prosecution. His American charges carry a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison if he is convicted.

What Cambodia's Wider Crackdown Has Found

Cambodia's national campaign reaches far beyond the Prince Group investigation. Between July 2025 and the end of September 2026, authorities investigated 910 locations associated with online scams, including all 86 major scam centres identified during the campaign, Sinarith said.

Law enforcement agencies referred 529 cases to the courts. A total of 5,778 people of multiple nationalities were charged and ordered detained pending further investigation. Those figures describe the nationwide campaign rather than the Prince Group case alone.

Authorities also repatriated 22,892 foreign nationals from 40 countries who were found at locations associated with illegal operations. Sinarith said many had been deceived or lured by criminal syndicates, while others had violated Cambodian immigration laws.

The 86 major centres represented about 9.5 percent of the 910 investigated locations. The figures show that the campaign covered a much wider range of premises than the largest compounds. The repatriation total also includes people with different circumstances, from those recruited through deception to people facing immigration action.

Sinarith said the government would continue pursuing online fraud and the financial networks supporting it. For the Prince Group investigation, the next legal decisions concern the suspects, the evidence connecting assets to alleged crimes and whether temporarily frozen property will eventually be confiscated. International cooperation will also shape efforts to locate fugitives and obtain evidence held abroad.

Key Points

• Cambodian courts have frozen nearly US$1 billion in Prince Group assets, including more than US$300 million in bank accounts.
• Investigators identified 198 affiliated companies, with 98 in Cambodia and 100 overseas.
• Courts issued 32 arrest warrants, and Cambodia is seeking INTERPOL Red Notices for at least 29 fugitives.
• The asset freezes are provisional. Permanent confiscation requires further court decisions.
• A separate US forfeiture case involves approximately 127,271 Bitcoin valued at about US$15 billion in October 2025.
• Cambodia's wider campaign investigated 910 locations and repatriated 22,892 foreign nationals between July 2025 and September 2026.
• Prince Group denies wrongdoing, and criminal proceedings remain ongoing.