Chen Zhi: Unveiling the Accused Mastermind Behind the $14 Billion Cryptocurrency Heist

image source,Prince Group/Getty images

Article Information

Chen Zhi, 37, is accused of being “the mastermind behind a huge online fraud empire…a criminal group built on human suffering.”

He has a thin goatee and a baby face that makes him look younger than he is. He did get rich quickly.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice accused him of orchestrating a scam in Cambodia that stole billions of dollars in cryptocurrency from victims around the world. The US Treasury has seized more than $14bn (£10.5bn) worth of Bitcoin allegedly linked to him – calling it the largest cryptocurrency seizure ever.

His own company, Prince Group of Cambodia, describes him on its website as “a respected entrepreneur and renowned philanthropist” whose “vision and leadership have established Prince Group as a leading business group in Cambodia that adheres to international standards”.

The BBC has contacted the Prince Group for response.

So, how much do we know about Chen Zhi, the mysterious figure suspected of running a fraud empire?

amazing growth

He grew up in China’s southeastern Fujian province and initially worked for a small, apparently unsuccessful online gaming company before moving to Cambodia in late 2010 or 2011 and becoming involved in the then-booming real estate industry.

His arrival coincided with the beginning of Cambodia’s real estate speculation boom. The craze is driven by the expropriation of vast tracts of land by powerful and politically well-connected figures, as well as the influx of massive Chinese capital.

Some of the money is pouring into Cambodia at the tail end of Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to export Chinese-made infrastructure, and some is coming from individual Chinese investors looking for more affordable alternatives to China’s overheated real estate market. The number of Chinese tourists visiting Cambodia is also increasing rapidly.

The skyline of the capital, Phnom Penh, has changed dramatically. What was once a distinctive mustard-yellow French colonial mansion has been transformed into another forest of Asian-style high-rises made up of glass and reinforced concrete towers.

Sihanoukville, this once peaceful little seaside resort, has undergone a transformation that is even more staggering. Not only are Chinese holidaymakers and property speculators heading there, but also gamblers – gambling is illegal in China.

New casinos are springing up, alongside gaudy luxury hotels and apartment complexes, where there’s big money to be made.

Even so, Chen Zhi’s life trajectory is still shocking.

In 2014, he gave up his Chinese nationality and became a Cambodian national. This enables him to purchase land in his own name but requires an investment or donation of at least $250,000 to the government.

Chen Zhi’s source of funds has always been unknown. When he applied for a bank account in the Isle of Man in 2019, he listed an unnamed uncle as having given him $2 million in 2011 to start his first property company, but no evidence was ever provided.

image source,Getty Images

Image caption,Sihanoukville transformed by Chinese investment

Chen Zhi founded Prince Group in 2015, focusing on real estate development, when he was only 27 years old.

In 2018, he obtained a commercial banking license and established Prince Bank. In the same year, he obtained a Cyprus passport with a minimum investment of $2.5 million, allowing him to enter the EU with ease. Later, he also obtained Vanuatu citizenship.

He founded Cambodia’s third airline and obtained the operating license of the fourth airline in 2020. Prince Real Estate Group has built a luxury shopping mall in Phnom Penh, owns a five-star hotel in Sihanoukville, and has an ambitious plan to spend $16 billion to build an “eco-city” in Sihanoukville called “The Bay of Light.”

In 2020, Chen Zhi was awarded the highest honor awarded by the King of Cambodia – “Lord” (Neak Oknha). Obtaining this title requires donating at least US$500,000 to the government.

Since 2017, he has served as an official advisor to Interior Minister Sar Kheng, a business partner to his son Sar Sokha, and an official advisor to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. After Hun Sen succeeded as prime minister in 2023, he served as the official adviser to Hun Sen’s son Hun Manet.

Chen Zhi was hailed as a philanthropist by local media for setting up scholarships for low-income students and making generous donations to Cambodia’s fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

However, he remains a mysterious figure, staying out of the public eye and making few public statements.

image source,AFP via Getty Images

Image caption,Phnom Penh Prince Bank Branch

“Everyone I’ve spoken to who has worked directly with him, who has been around him, describes him as very polite, very calm, very measured,” journalist Jack Adamovic Davies said. Davis conducted a three-year investigation into Chen Zhi, the results of which were published by Radio Free Asia last year.

“I think it’s smart not to be the flamboyant guy that gets picked up by the tabloids. Even people who want nothing to do with him anymore are still impressed by his quiet charm and gravitas.”

But where does all this wealth and power come from?

“A string of transnational crimes”

In 2019, Sihanoukville’s real estate bubble burst. The online gambling industry has attracted the attention of Chinese criminal groups, who are engaged in fierce turf wars. Tourists were scared away.

Under pressure from China, then Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered a ban on online gambling in August of the same year. With the collapse of Sihanoukville’s main businesses and the departure of some 450,000 Chinese citizens, many residential areas in the Prince Group have become vacant.

However, Chen Zhi continued to expand his business interests and spend extravagantly.

In 2019, he bought a £12 million mansion in north London and a £95 million office building in the city’s financial district, according to British authorities. The United States said that he and his accomplices purchased real estate, private jets, superyachts and a Picasso painting in New York.

In addition, they also accuse Chen Zhi’s wealth of coming from Internet fraud, the most profitable industry in Asia today, and the subsequent human trafficking and money laundering.

The United States and Britain have imposed sanctions on 128 companies linked to the Chen Zhihe Prince Group and 17 people from seven different countries suspected of helping run his fraud empire. Assets related to Chen Zhi in the United States and the United Kingdom have been frozen.

image source,US District Court EDNY

Image caption,Court documents include images of alleged ‘phone farms’ used in scams

The sanctions announcement described a complex network of shell companies and cryptocurrency wallets through which funds were moved to disguise their origins.

“The Prince Group’s transnational criminal organization profited from a range of transnational crimes, including sextortion – a scam that induces victims, often minors, to provide sexually explicit material for later blackmail – money laundering, various scams and illegal activities, corruption, illegal online gambling, as well as large-scale human trafficking, torture and extortion of enslaved workers to operate at least ten fraud rings in Cambodia,” the announcement stated.

“The Empire of Fraud”

China has been quietly investigating the Prince Group since at least 2020. There have been multiple cases accusing the company of committing online fraud.

The Beijing Public Security Bureau has set up a task force to investigate the “Prince Group”. Prince Group is a large multinational online gambling group headquartered in Cambodia.

The United States and the United Kingdom allege that the group’s core business is enterprises such as Jin Phuc Science and Technology Park, which was built by the Prince Group in the Chrey Thom area near the Vietnamese border.

In the past, the Prince Group has denied participating in any fraudulent activities and stated that it no longer has any connection with the Jinfu Group. However, investigations by the United States and the United Kingdom believe that there are still obvious business connections between the two.

In the process of investigating Chen Zhi, Davis interviewed many people who lived and worked near Jinfu Group. They described brutal beatings of Chinese, Vietnamese and Malaysians who tried to flee the campus, where they were forced to commit online fraud.

“I think it’s the sheer scale of Chen Zhi’s business that is really remarkable,” he said, adding that given the serious criminal charges against Chen Zhi, it was shocking that Prince Group was able to build a ‘global reach’ without raising alarm. “

“What should be disturbing to a lot of people is that Chen Zhi should not have owned all these assets at all, whether in Singapore, London or the United States. Lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, bankers, everyone should have looked at this group and said, wait a minute, this doesn’t make sense. But they didn’t.”

image source,AFP via Getty Images

Image caption,Prince International Plaza, Phnom Penh

Now, after the US and UK sanctions have attracted widespread attention, major companies have drawn a clear line with the Prince Group.

The Central Bank of Cambodia had to issue a statement to anxious depositors to ensure that they would be able to withdraw funds from Prince Bank. South Korean authorities froze $64 million in deposits held by the bank in South Korean banks.

The governments of Singapore and Thailand have pledged to investigate Prince Group subsidiaries within their respective jurisdictions – three of the 18 individuals sanctioned by the US and UK are Singaporeans.

The Cambodian government has made few statements other than urging US and British authorities to ensure there is sufficient evidence for its accusations.

But it is difficult for Cambodia’s ruling elite to draw a clear line between themselves and Chen Zhi, after all, they have long been close to him. Cambodia has come under increasing pressure because of its high tolerance for fraudulent businesses, which some estimate may account for about half of the country’s economy.

What is the situation of Chen Zhi himself?

There has been no news or sighting of him since the sanctions were announced last week. The mysterious tycoon was once one of the most powerful men in Cambodia, but now appears to have disappeared.

What specific blockchain analysis evasion techniques did Chen Zhi’s network allegedly employ too obscure the origin of the stolen funds?

The Scale of the Heist: A $14 Billion Loss

The cryptocurrency world was rocked in late 2023 and early 2024 by a massive theft, estimated at over $14 billion worth of digital assets.This wasn’t a simple hack of a single exchange; it was a elegant, coordinated operation targeting multiple platforms and involving a complex network of wallets and transactions. At the center of the examination stands Chen Zhi, a Chinese national accused of being the primary architect of this unprecedented cryptocurrency fraud. The stolen funds encompassed a wide range of digital currencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Tether (USDT), impacting thousands of investors globally. This event quickly became known as one of the largest crypto heists in history.

who is Chen Zhi? Background and Allegations

Chen Zhi, also known by aliases, is alleged to have led a criminal enterprise operating from China. Authorities believe he masterminded the scheme through a platform called “Shopify for Crypto,” offering services that facilitated the laundering of illicit funds.

* Early Involvement in Crypto: Reports suggest Chen Zhi had been involved in the cryptocurrency space for several years prior to the heist, initially focusing on legitimate trading and exchange operations.

* Development of a Laundering Network: Investigators claim Chen Zhi built a sophisticated network designed to obscure the origin of stolen funds. This involved creating numerous shell companies and utilizing various blockchain analysis evasion techniques.

* The Role of OTC Trading: Over-the-counter (OTC) trading played a crucial role in the laundering process. Chen Zhi allegedly used his network to convert stolen cryptocurrency into fiat currency through private transactions, bypassing conventional exchange regulations.

* Alleged Connections to PlusToken: There are strong allegations linking Chen Zhi to the PlusToken Ponzi scheme, a previous large-scale cryptocurrency fraud that collapsed in 2020. Some believe the current heist was a continuation of operations stemming from PlusToken.

The Modus Operandi: How the Heist Unfolded

The $14 billion heist wasn’t a single event but a series of coordinated attacks. The methods employed were diverse and highly technical, demonstrating a deep understanding of blockchain technology and security vulnerabilities.

1. Targeting Multiple Exchanges: The attackers didn’t focus on a single, high-profile exchange. Instead, they targeted a range of platforms, including smaller, less secure exchanges, and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
2. Exploiting Smart Contract Vulnerabilities: In several instances, the attackers exploited vulnerabilities in smart contracts, the self-executing agreements that underpin manny DeFi applications. This allowed them to drain funds directly from these protocols.
3. SIM Swapping and Account Takeovers: Reports indicate that SIM swapping attacks were used to gain control of user accounts on cryptocurrency exchanges. This involved tricking mobile carriers into transferring phone numbers to the attackers, allowing them to reset passwords and access accounts.
4. Private Key Compromise: Compromised private keys, the digital signatures that authorize cryptocurrency transactions, were also a significant factor in the heist. How these keys were obtained remains under investigation, but possibilities include phishing attacks, malware, and insider threats.
5. Layered Transactions & Mixing Services: Once funds were stolen, they were quickly moved through a series of layered transactions and crypto mixing services (also known as tumblers) to obscure their origin. This made it extremely difficult for law enforcement to trace the funds.

The Investigation and Legal Proceedings

The investigation into the heist is ongoing, led by a coalition of international law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Interpol, and Chinese authorities.

* Arrests and Asset Seizures: Several individuals have been arrested in connection with the heist, including Chen Zhi.authorities have also seized a significant amount of cryptocurrency, although the recovery rate remains relatively low.

* extradition Challenges: Extraditing Chen Zhi from China has proven to be a significant challenge due to jurisdictional issues and differing legal systems.

* Ongoing Forensic Analysis: Forensic analysis of the blockchain transactions is crucial to identifying the flow of funds and recovering stolen assets. Blockchain forensics experts are working tirelessly to unravel the complex network of transactions.

* International Cooperation: the scale of the heist necessitates close cooperation between law enforcement agencies across multiple countries. Sharing intelligence and coordinating investigations are essential to bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Impact on the Cryptocurrency Market & Investor Confidence

The $14 billion heist had a significant impact on the cryptocurrency market, causing a temporary dip in prices and eroding investor confidence.

* Increased Scrutiny of Exchanges: The incident led to increased scrutiny of cryptocurrency exchanges and calls for stricter regulations.

* Demand for Enhanced Security Measures: Investors are now demanding more robust security measures from exchanges and DeFi platforms, including multi-factor authentication, cold storage of funds,