Chinese prosecutors have added a charge of intentional assault against Chen Zhi, the founder and chairman of Cambodia’s Prince Group, in a move that exposes the alleged cybercrime figure to a possible death sentence.
The charge was reported by Chinese business magazine Caixin, which said Chen was formally arrested on July 6th, six months after his extradition from Cambodia to China.
According to the report, prosecutors dropped an earlier count of concealing or disguising criminal proceeds and added two new charges: copyright infringement and intentional assault. Chen is also reported to remain under suspicion of fraud, operating illegal gambling activities and unlawful business operations.
The significance lies in the assault charge. Under Article 234 of China’s Criminal Law, intentional injury is ordinarily punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment, but where it causes death, or causes severe injury through especially cruel means, the sentence rises to no less than 10 years, life imprisonment or death. It is that aggravated form of the offence that carries the capital penalty, and its addition is what places execution among the possible outcomes for Chen. The specific conduct underlying the charge has not been detailed in the reporting.
Chen, 38, a Chinese-born national who also held Cambodian citizenship until it was revoked by royal decree, was repatriated from Phnom Penh in January following a joint operation between Chinese and Cambodian authorities. China’s Ministry of Public Security described him at the time as the ringleader of a cross-border fraud syndicate. Prince Group has previously denied wrongdoing and characterized the allegations as baseless.
The Chinese proceedings run parallel to a US case. In late 2025, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York indicted Chen for wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, and US authorities filed a civil forfeiture claim against 127,271 Bitcoin linked to the alleged scam network. The seizure, valued at around US$15 billion, is the largest forfeiture action in the history of the US Department of Justice. The US Treasury and the UK sanctioned Chen and dozens of Prince Group affiliates in October 2025, designating the network a transnational criminal organization.
US authorities have continued to press the case. In a statement dated June 23, 2026, the US Department of State announced sanctions against a further nine individuals and 26 entities linked to the Prince Group organization and its leadership, saying members own and profit from scam compounds targeting victims in the United States and elsewhere.
The gambling dimension of the case connects to the Jinbei Group, whose founder Liu Ren was extradited from Cambodia to China last month and accused of operating multiple online gambling platforms aimed at Chinese citizens.
Separately, Japanese authorities in June arrested Hu Shi, a 44-year-old Chinese-born Cypriot national believed to have been a senior Prince Group figure, on suspicion of document falsification. Hu, sanctioned by the US Treasury in June, told Reuters in April that he was not the group’s leader and remains in Japan.
The addition of a capital charge is consistent with a broader hardening of China’s posture toward Southeast Asian scam operations. In January, Chinese state media reported the execution of 11 people tied to the Ming family criminal group, which ran scam centers in Myanmar, on charges that included intentional injury, intentional homicide, unlawful detention, fraud and the establishment of casinos. China has also announced an international alliance against online fraud, due to launch in September.
Caixin’s report is based on informed sources, and the charges remain allegations to be tested in court. AGB will update as the proceedings develop.
