Cambodia Defends Deportation of Alleged Chinese Scam Kingpin Chen Zhi

Cambodia publicly defended its decision to deport alleged cybercrime boss Chen Zhi to China, pushing back against questions over due process and sovereignty as scrutiny of the country’s sprawling scam-center economy intensifies. Officials said Chen’s expulsion was carried out on clear ...

Scam Compound Crackdowns in Cambodia Trigger Run on Embassies

Hundreds of Chinese and other nationals are flooding embassies in Cambodia following intensified crackdowns on scam centers. Escapees from the fraud hubs, which frequently run on trafficked labor, are gathering outside embassies in Phnom Penh to try to arrange repatriation. Similar crowds ...

China Tells Cambodia Scam Hub Disappearances Threaten Ties

China's embassy in Cambodia said on Saturday that a recent spate of disappearances of Chinese nationals into cyberfraud compounds poses a "serious obstacle" to the allies' ties. Ambassador Wang Wenbin urged Phnom Penh to strengthen a crackdown on the illicit industry ...

China Offers Leniency if Cronies of Accused Scam Boss Surrender

China called on Thursday for the criminal associates of accused scam boss Chen Zhi to voluntarily surrender in exchange for lighter sentences, after their alleged ringleader was extradited from Cambodia. Chen has been indicted by the United States on fraud and ...

Cambodia Suspends Sales at Properties Owned by Accused Cyberscam Front

Cambodia has frozen sales of luxury properties by a U.S.-sanctioned conglomerate after its founder was extradited to China and charged by Washington for allegedly running multibillion-dollar transnational cyberscams. Prince Group founder and chairman Chen Zhi was extradited to China from Cambodia ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

The Fraying Story of the “West” and What’s Next

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech in Davos marked a new era in how the West talks about itself. One could say he was the first Global North leader to frame the rules-based international order (RIP) in Global South terms: 
“We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false, that the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient, that trade rules were enforced asymmetrically. And we knew ...

Accused Scam Boss Chen Zhi Arrested in Cambodia, Extradited to China: Phnom Penh

Chinese-born tycoon Chen Zhi, who was indicted by the United States on fraud and money-laundering charges for running a multibillion-dollar cyberscam network from Cambodia, has been arrested there and extradited to China, Phnom Penh said Wednesday. Chen allegedly directed operations of ...

China Repatriates 952 After Joint Scam Crackdown in Myanmar

China’s national police agency said Chinese officers, working with counterparts from Thailand and Myanmar, arrested suspects and repatriated 952 Chinese nationals suspected of involvement in telecommunication fraud during joint operations along Myanmar’s border. The operations targeted scam and gambling compounds, ...

Chinese Detainees Riot in Thai Detention Center, 15 Charged

Hundreds of Chinese nationals accused of fleeing online scam hubs in Myanmar rioted inside a Thai immigration detention center Wednesday night. The Chinese detainees riot came as Thailand and China were stepping up deportation back to China. The disturbance involved ...

Indonesia Detains Man Wanted in China Over $138 Million Loan Default

Indonesian authorities said on Tuesday they had detained a Chinese real estate executive wanted over the default of a $138 million corporate loan. The 58-year-old man, identified only as WZ, was arrested on Indonesia's western island of Batam on Thursday after ...

Alleged Chinese Scam Kingpin Extradited From Thailand: Police

An alleged Chinese racketeer linked to a hugely lucrative scam hub in Myanmar was extradited from Thailand to China on Wednesday, a police official in Bangkok told AFP. She Zhijiang had been in Thai custody since 2022 after spending more than ...

Thai Court Rules Chinese Scam Hub Tycoon to Be Extradited

A tycoon linked to illegal scam hub operations on the Thai-Myanmar border will be extradited to face criminal charges in China, a court in Bangkok ordered on Monday. Chinese businessman She Zhijiang, 43, has been in detention in Thailand since 2022, ...

China Issues Death Sentences to 5 Members of Myanmar Gang

China sentenced five people to death on Tuesday for their involvement in a violent criminal gang with fraud operations in Myanmar's Kokang region along the border, state media reported. Scam compounds have flourished in Myanmar's lawless borderlands, staffed by foreigners -- ...
Page 1 of 3123