Big Take Asia The Rise and Fall of an Alleged Scam Boss
Mar 10, 2026
David Ramli, a Bloomberg investing reporter based in Singapore, brings on-the-ground reporting about Chen Zhi and the alleged Prince Group. He recounts extradition footage and claims of large-scale scams and trafficking. He traces Chen’s rise from Fujian to Cambodia and explains how casinos, banks and crypto allegedly masked illicit networks. He outlines political ties, sanctions and the aftermath of shutdowns.
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Sihanoukville Became A Global Scam Hub
- Scam hubs in Sihanoukville like Mango Park housed thousands working shifts to run pig butchering scams targeting victims globally.
- David Ramli details schemes from romance and Nigerian-prince style lures to fake investment platforms extracting victims' bank funds.
Mixed Worker Reality Inside Scam Centers
- Worker experiences varied: some were paid and incentivized, others were trafficked, misled into IT jobs, and punished for poor performance.
- David Ramli cites indictments describing beatings and hunts for those who tried to escape or underperformed.
Scams Generated Tens Of Millions Daily
- The operation was extremely lucrative, at times generating over $30 million per day according to a lieutenant's text from 2018.
- David Ramli highlights the scale from a specific indicted boast, underscoring why corruption and protection persisted.