FEAR has gripped Chinese citizens residing at Cambodia’s Bavet City, which borders Vietnam, after Chen Zyi, a Chinese-born tycoon accused of running internet scam centres that use trafficked workers to defraud victims worldwide, was extradited to China, TV Channel 7 said today (Dec. 10).
While there is no information yet on whether the disgruntled Chinese citizens will flee or relocate, Mr. Bird, a team member of Immanuel Foundation (IMF) in the Eastern Region,, has discovered a new scammers’ hideout across from former Khmer refugee camp Ban Nong Chan, Sa Kaeo province. They have relocated here from Tboung Khmum province, which also shares an international border with Vietnam to the east.
It is believed that Chen Zyi’s extradition to China for prosecution is unlikely to significantly impact scam gangs as he was only one of their financial backers and not the brains who can continue to rake in cash by scamming victims through fraudulent cryptocurrency investment, online love or friendships, get-rich-quick investments among other nefarious means.
Chinese television showed footage of US-indicted Chen Zhi being escorted by armed police after his extradition to China from Cambodia, where authorities on Thursday (Jan. 8) ordered the liquidation of Prince Bank he founded that is linked to a massive “scam centre” network, according to a report by agencies published by CNA
Chen was shown in handcuffs and hooded as he was led off a plane at a Beijing airport by black-clad SWAT officers, with state broadcaster CCTV describing him as the “leader of a major transnational gambling and fraud crime syndicate”.
The surprise arrest of Chen is the biggest step yet in efforts by a number of countries to crack down on sprawling compounds in Southeast Asia that house tens of thousands of workers, many trafficked and forced into scamming victims around the world, in what the United Nations says has evolved into a sophisticated global industry.
The extradition of the young tycoon was announced late Wednesday by Cambodia, the base of his Prince Group of businesses, after what the Interior Ministry there said was a months-long joint transnational crime investigation with China.
It is not immediately clear what charges China-born Chen faces, and China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said authorities were collaborating to combat cross-border telecom fraud scams.
CAPTIONS:
Top – This frame grab taken from undated handout video footage released by China’s Ministry of Public Security on Jan. 8, 2026 shows guards escorting handcuffed accused scam boss Chen Zhi off a China Southern plane in Beijing. Photo: Handout via AFP/China’s Ministry of Public Security and published by CNA
Insert -View of a Prince Bank branch. File photo: Prince Bank website published by CNA
Front Page – This frame grab taken from undated handout video footage released by China’s Ministry of Public Security on Jan. 8, 2026 shows guards escorting handcuffed accused scam boss Chen Zhi off a China Southern plane in Beijing. Photo: Handout via AFP/China’s Ministry of Public Security and published by CNA
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