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.
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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.
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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.