Cambodia has frozen nearly $1 billion in assets tied to Prince Group, extending a run of cross-border crackdowns on the conglomerate that began after its founder, Chen Zhi, was extradited to China. The move places the Southeast Asian nation alongside the United States, Hong Kong and Britain, all of which have taken action against assets connected to the group. Taken together, the measures span four jurisdictions and touch cash, property, corporate holdings and cryptocurrency, meaning the final disposition of the group's assets will be decided across multiple court systems rather than by any single government.

The freezing orders, authorized by the courts, are provisional. Chhay Sinarith, a senior minister who heads the secretariat of Cambodia's Commission for Combating Technology-enabled Scams, said the decision on whether the country gets to keep the frozen assets rests with the judges, according to reporting by The Phnom Penh Post. Until judges rule, the assets remain secured but not forfeited, and whether the state takes ownership stays an open question.

What Cambodia froze

According to Sinarith, the assets frozen from Prince Group include more than $300 million in cash held across multiple bank accounts, as well as buildings, casinos, real estate parcels and movable property.

Cambodia's pursuit of Chen accelerated after a royal decree in December 2025 revoked the Cambodian citizenship he had received in 2014. He was arrested by Cambodian police on January 6 and extradited to China. Two days later, the National Bank of Cambodia ordered Prince Bank, the lender he founded, into liquidation.

Investigators have attributed roughly 198 companies to Chen's Prince Group, 98 of them inside Cambodia and 100 overseas — a split that helps explain why the crackdown has unfolded across several legal systems at once.

The sequence of events marked a sharp reversal of fortune for Chen, who at one point advised two generations of Cambodian leaders: Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father, Hun Sen.

Other Prince Group members in custody

Chen is not the only top-level Prince Group executive to have been arrested or arraigned in court. Others include Li Song, Liu Yin, Eang Soklim, Eng Dara and Huang Ron. Court warrants are outstanding for 32 accused people in total, four others are under judicial supervision, and five more suspects are still being identified.

Eng Dara, a 45-year-old Cambodian businessman and former director of Jin Bei Group drew sanctions from both the UK and the US in 2025 over suspected involvement in scam centers accused of forced labor. Eang Soklim was named as the figurehead of a scam compound in Prey Veng province.

Cambodia is seeking INTERPOL Red Notices for another 29 people suspected of having fled the country. It is also sharing intelligence with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and China's Ministry of Public Security.

The US Bitcoin case is unfinished

Washington remains in a comparable holding pattern. The US Justice Department seized roughly 127,271 Bitcoin in October 2025, valued at $15 billion at the time and around $9 billion by March 2026, in what it called its largest forfeiture ever. Blockchain firm Elliptic traced the coins to LuBian, a mining operation with ties to China and Iran.

The Bitcoin remains in government custody, and the forfeiture has not been finalized. The ICIJ reported that the Justice Department has rejected claims filed by lawyers for hundreds of alleged scam victims.

Other jurisdictions have added to the pressure. Hong Kong's High Court froze about $1.1 billion in Chen's deposits, properties and shares, as Cryptopolitan reported, and Britain has frozen London mansions tied to alleged Prince associate Hu Xiaowei.

Chen faces fraud and illegal gambling charges in China, and up to 40 years in prison if convicted in the US of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. With provisional freezes in Cambodia, an unfinished forfeiture in Washington, outstanding warrants for 32 accused people and Red Notice requests pending for 29 others, the case's next milestones sit with courts and law enforcement agencies in multiple countries. Prince Group has denied wrongdoing.