Prince Holding Group’s luxury and cash assets seized by the Hong Kong and Singapore Police

Hong Kong and Singapore Police have announced the seizure of luxury and cash assets linked to a cryptocurrency, gambling, and money laundering scheme involving Prince Holding Group’s founder, Chen Zhi.

Both police operations relate to the Department of Justice (DoJ) case centering around Zi, and the allegations of money laundering, cryptocurrency forced-labor scams, and illegal gambling rings.

As we reported, the DoJ and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have seized 127,271 Bitcoin, currently worth approximately $15 billion, that is linked to illicit gambling activities in what has been a global operation to hamstring the network Chen built.

Hong Kong and Singapore Police seize assets linked to Prince Holding Group founder

The Singapore Police reported that, as part of a case built by the nation’s Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office (STRO), Chen had multiple locations of interest that were tied to a broader global case.

After collaborating with the UK and US members of the Anti-Money Laundering Case Coordination and Collaboration Network (AC3N), the Singapore Police decided to strike at the assets.

This resulted in the recovery of S$150 million ($115.9 million) in funds from raids across six properties, with Director of the Commercial Affairs Department, David Chew, speaking about the collaborative effort of multiple agencies.

“The crimes cross many borders, and witnesses, exhibits, and assets have been secured in several jurisdictions. We will continue to work with our foreign law enforcement counterparts and financial intelligence units and domestic partners to fight such organised crime groups and money laundering networks,” said Chew.

Hong Kong Police reported a similar tactical deployment, according to Reuters, with an asset seizure total of HK$2.75 billion ($354 million).

According to the news report, a police spokesperson said, “The frozen assets, including cash, stocks, and funds held by individuals and corporate entities, are believed to be crime proceeds linked to the concerned syndicate.”

Chen’s global assets under seizure

This would not be the only Southeast Asian nation to step in to act on Chen and the Prince Holding Group, as Taiwan also launched its own asset seizure.

This resulted in the seizure of T$4.5 billion ($147.09 million) in assets, including properties, luxury vehicles, and bank accounts.

In the UK, Chen owned million-pound properties in Avenue Road, North London; Fenchurch Street; and 17 flats on New Oxford Street and in Nine Elms, South London, all of which were seized.

“The masterminds behind these horrific scam centres are ruining the lives of vulnerable people and buying up London homes to store their money,” said UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.

Featured image: Singapore Police

The post Prince Holding Group’s luxury and cash assets seized by the Hong Kong and Singapore Police appeared first on ReadWrite.