PHNOM PENH: Cambodia has frozen sales of luxury properties by a US-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 last week, both governments said.
The United States indicted the Chinese-born businessman in October, alleging he directed online investment schemes that have netted billions and were run by hundreds of scammers trafficked into compounds in Cambodia.
Four Prince Group properties in the capital Phnom Penh and one in the coastal city of Sihanoukville were “suspended from further sales” of condo units and homes in gated communities, Cambodia’s real estate regulator said in a statement late Monday (Jan 12).
The announcement is the latest blow to Prince Group – a multinational conglomerate that US authorities say served as a front for “one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organisations” – after Chen was charged, and his company was sanctioned by Washington and London in October.
The real estate regulator said individuals who have signed sales contracts for units at any of the five properties were obligated to complete the agreed purchase.
Those who have paid in full have the option to sell their property, after registering ownership with the government, an official at the regulator said.
At one of the Prince complexes in the capital, The Pinnacle Residence condominiums – also known as Prince Happiness Plaza, according to the regulator – several employees told AFP on Tuesday that the sales office had been closed.
One employee who declined to give his name said the sales team had been scaling down since October.
“I don’t know what is happening and I hope it won’t affect my job,” he said.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/cambodia-suspends-sales-prince-group-property-cyberscam-5855831
