A central London penthouse and helicopter have been seized by UK authorities after a raid on allies linked to a “romance scam kingpin”.
The Government said on Thursday that it had frozen assets including a £9m apartment overlooking Buckingham Palace linked to individuals accused of running a network of romance scam centres in Cambodia.
The 3,250 sq ft penthouse, which boasts four bedrooms and views of the Palace and the Royal Parks, is thought to be owned by a key ally of Chen Zhi, a suspected cyber fraud kingpin.
Mr Chen heads the Prince Group, a conglomerate described by the UK authorities as a front for “industrial scale” online fraud operations.
Romance scam centres hold people against their will and force them to defraud strangers online under the threat of punishment or torture.
The UN estimates that hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to South East Asia, many of them to Cambodia, lured by the promise of legitimate jobs and then forced to run online scams.
Mr Chen has been accused by the US and UK of targeting thousands of victims through these scam centres, using the cash to build a London property empire, including a £100m office block.
US prosecutors charged Chinese-born Mr Chen with masterminding cyber-fraud and money laundering profits last year. The UK has also imposed sanctions and froze his £12m central London mansion.
US prosecutors also allege he spent the criminal proceeds on a luxury lifestyle, purchasing private jets and watches as well as a Picasso painting. He has since been arrested and extradited to China.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said on Thursday that it had sanctioned more companies and individuals linked to the Prince Group.
These include Thet Li, who the FCDO said was a “key lieutenant” of Mr Chen Zhi.
He is believed to own the £9m penthouse.
A helicopter also believed to be owned by an unnamed individual in the scam network has also been seized.
Hu Xiaowei, who the FCDO said was another long-term associate of Mr Chen, has also been sanctioned as well as the operators of an entity called #8 Park, which the FCDO said is the largest scam compound in Cambodia.
A cryptocurrency platform which provides services to scam centres, called Xinbi, has also been sanctioned.
These services include selling stolen personal data, which can be used to target scam victims, and satellite internet equipment, which is used to contact victims.
BYEX, another cryptocurrency platform that the FCDO said was used to launder the proceeds of scams, shut down following the UK’s sanctions last year.
Since the UK and US sanctioned Prince Group last year, the government in Cambodia has launched its largest ever crackdown on the scam economy.
Local authorities estimate that 2,500 sites have been raided, leading to the closure of hundreds of scam centres and the release of tens of thousands of foreign nationals.
Lord Hanson, the fraud minister, said: “Fraud is a global crime run by organised networks operating across borders and targeting victims at scale. That is why we are acting both at home and abroad.”
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