We are the victims — ordinary people who trusted, invested, and believed — and we were systematically hunted by a powerful criminal network operating behind luxury offices, casinos, and fake promises.
At the center of our suffering stands CHEN ZHI, a wealthy tycoon, chairman of Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group, and the man authorities say orchestrated one of the largest online scam operations in Southeast Asia.
For years, his network lured us — AMERICAN VICTIMS and others around the world — into fake investment and cryptocurrency schemes. We were manipulated, deceived, and drained financially while the people behind the scams lived lavishly and hid behind political protection.
This week, Cambodia’s government finally acted. After months of pressure, CHEN ZHI and two associates were arrested and extradited to China. His Cambodian citizenship was stripped away — a belated admission that his power had shielded him for far too long.
According to U.S. and U.K. authorities, CHEN ZHI led a transnational criminal organization that didn’t just steal money — it trafficked human beings. Workers were trapped, beaten, and forced to scam people like us day after day. The system was industrial, brutal, and global.
We were persuaded to pour our savings into bogus investments. One of us lost $400,000 in cryptocurrency. In total, 250 AMERICAN VICTIMS were scammed out of millions. In 2024 alone, Americans lost at least $10 billion to scams run out of Southeast Asia.
While we suffered, U.S. authorities say CHEN ZHI laundered money through online gambling, crypto mining, and real estate. They seized $14 billion in bitcoin tied to his operations — proof of the scale of the theft.
Governments finally imposed sanctions. Assets were frozen. Mansions, office buildings, and businesses across the U.K., Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong were seized. But for many of us, the damage was already done.
Experts say Cambodia had no choice. International pressure became too intense to ignore. Handing CHEN ZHI to China was the easiest way to silence scrutiny from the U.S. and U.K., even though he had already been indicted in Brooklyn.
Human rights groups warn that this is not reform — it is damage control. Amnesty International has pointed to deep state complicity, describing a system that allowed Chinese criminal gangs to operate freely while people were enslaved to run romance and crypto scams.
Behind the headlines are tens of thousands of forced workers and millions of victims like us. The U.N. estimates over 220,000 people in Cambodia and Myanmar alone were trapped in scam operations — and many believe the crimes are still continuing.
This was not a single scam.
This was an industry.
And WE WERE THE PRODUCT.