Cambodian courts have frozen close to US$1 billion in assets belonging to Prince Group, including casinos the government says were used to hide online scam operations.
Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith, head of the Secretariat of Cambodia’s Commission for Combating Technology-enabled Scams, said in an interview published on 21 October 2026 that courts have ordered the freezing of more than US$300 million held in bank accounts. The wider freeze covers buildings, casinos, thousands of real estate properties and movable assets.
Casinos under the enforcement spotlight
Sinarith said casino venues and other properties operating under names tied to Prince Group served as cover for the scam networks, and that 28 casino locations have been identified as implicated in criminal activity. An earlier official update from state-run Agence Kampuchea Presse recorded 18 casino licences revoked and 9 suspended as of 31 August 2026. Earlier in October, the Cambodian government announced nationwide casino inspections to enforce its ban on online gambling.
The case and the manhunt
The investigation targets Prince Group founder Chen Zhi and his associates. The charges before the courts, as Sinarith described them, are aggravated fraud committed by an organised group and aggravated money laundering. Six men identified by the minister as the group’s alleged leaders, Chen Zhi, Li Song, Liu Yin, Eng Dara, Eang Soklim and Huang Ron, are now in custody and their cases have been sent to court. Courts have issued arrest warrants for 32 people and placed four others under judicial supervision, and Cambodia has begun seeking INTERPOL Red Notices for at least 29 fugitives believed to have fled abroad, a request that asks police worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest the suspects.
Sinarith said investigators have mapped a network of 198 companies tied to the group, 98 registered in Cambodia and 100 operating overseas, and that Cambodia is sharing intelligence with the FBI and China’s Ministry of Public Security.
The freeze is not a confiscation. Options under consideration include temporary state administration and eventual transfer into state ownership, and the freezes remain subject to court decisions. From July 2025 to the end of September 2026, authorities investigated 910 locations linked to online scams and sent home 22,892 foreign nationals from 40 countries, Sinarith said. Investigators are still working to identify five additional suspects.
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