Sanctions-hit Cambodian tycoon Chen Zhi owned luxury condo in Tokyo

Name: Amnesty says Cambodia’s multibillion-dollar scam industry thrives with government blessing
Uploaded: 2025-11-18T01:31:43.000Z
Duration: 3 min 47 s
Description: Amnesty says Cambodia’s multibillion-dollar scam industry thrives with government blessing

The Prince Holding Group boss, who is accused of running a conglomerate built on cyberscam operations, visited Japan frequently

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Cambodian tycoon Chen Zhi. Photo: Prince Holding Group

Kyodo

Published: 9:31am, 18 Nov 2025

The chairman of a Cambodia-based conglomerate indicted by US authorities over alleged large-scale investment fraud and money laundering had acquired a luxury property in Tokyo as his residence, Japanese corporate registration documents showed on Monday.

Chen Zhi, a Cambodian national of Chinese descent who heads Prince Holding Group, established Prince Group in the Japanese capital in 2022 and is believed to have sought long-term residence status in Japan by starting his own business.

The US Treasury Department has described Chen as the mastermind behind one of Asia’s largest criminal organisations, putting him on the country’s sanctions list on October 14.

The US Justice Department said the same day that it had indicted Chen and filed to seize around 127,271 bitcoin, currently worth US$12 billion, alleging they are proceeds and instrumentalities of the defendant’s fraud and money laundering schemes. Part of the money may have been laundered into Japan.

Chen had originally registered a location near the Prince Holding Group headquarters in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, as his residential address. However, in 2024, after establishing Prince Group in Tokyo’s Chiyoda ward, he changed the address to a luxury condominium in the capital’s Minato ward.

03:47

Amnesty says Cambodia’s multibillion-dollar scam industry thrives with government blessing

A local source in Cambodia said Chen visited Japan frequently. However, none of the residents of the Tokyo condominium contacted by Kyodo News recalled ever seeing him.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x