Singapore: Singapore police have seized assets worth more than S$150 million (US$115.90 million) linked to the Prince Group, a multinational network accused of operating a large-scale fraud operation, The Straits Times reported on Friday. Police said the seized assets included six properties, bank accounts, securities accounts, and cash linked to the network and fugitive Cambodian businessman Chen Zhi, who is on the run for money laundering and document forgery.
According to Thai News Agency, the asset seizure comes after the UK and US imposed sanctions on the Prince Group, which has a business network in Southeast Asia. The group is accused of running a large online "fraud hub" that uses trafficked workers to defraud victims around the world. Police added that the investigation into Mr. Chen and his associates began in 2024 after receiving information from the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office, adding that no one in the group is currently in Singapore.
In a statement on Friday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it was working with police to pursue cases related to Prince Group. MAS added that financial institutions in Singapore had been filing suspicious transaction reports since 2022 and that a number of suspicious accounts had been closed.
The UK government said the scam centres were based in Cambodia, Myanmar, and across the region, using fake job postings to lure workers, who were then forced to commit online fraud under the threat of torture. The US Treasury Department said it had launched the largest anti-organized crime operation in Southeast Asia, targeting 146 individuals involved in the organization.
In July, the MAS sanctioned six banks and three other financial institutions in connection with the country's largest money laundering case of 2023, which involved the seizure of more than S$3 billion worth of illicit assets, following the arrest of 10 foreigners in simultaneous raids in August 2023.