Spider Capitalism 2.0: The Chen Zhi Case, Cryptocurrency, and Southeast Asia

As the transnational criminal empire of Chen Zhi, the de facto controller of the Prince Group in Cambodia, was exposed and cracked down on by the British and American governments, its intricate global business network has also come to light. Shockingly, this group, notorious for its "pig butchering" style telecom fraud, human trafficking, and forced labor, controlled 50% of the shares of Habanos, a top Cuban cigar company, through a complex offshore structure. China is Habanos' largest consumer market. This unexpected connection reveals that in the digital age, illegal economic activities and legitimate businesses are intertwined through blockchain and offshore financial networks, forming a new "capital spider web." This article attempts to analyze the operational logic of so-called "spider web capitalism 2.0"—that is, the upgrade of traditional offshore capitalism under the special circumstances of blockchain technology and Southeast Asia—starting from the Chen Zhi case, and to demonstrate how a decentralized offshore capital network is formed.

Spider Capitalism 2.0 = Offshore Capitalism × Cryptocurrency × Southeast Asia

"Spider Capitalism 2.0" can be understood as a new form of capitalism where traditional offshore financial networks upgrade themselves using blockchain technology. Offshore capitalism refers to the traditional practice of capital moving globally through offshore financial centers, shell companies, etc., to evade regulation and taxation. In the past, wealthy individuals and conglomerates often used tax havens such as the Cayman Islands and Swiss banks to hide assets and evade domestic regulation. The rise of cryptocurrencies has provided a completely new technological tool for this offshore operation: blockchain assets such as Bitcoin can be transferred peer-to-peer globally, without relying on the traditional banking system, thus constructing a "decentralized offshore structure." Today, opening an on-chain wallet or exchanging stablecoins on a decentralized exchange is like having a Swiss account without a trust intermediary, allowing funds to flow freely globally and be difficult to intercept. These on-chain assets, combined with shadow trading networks, allow huge amounts of wealth to be hidden in code and anonymous addresses, making it difficult for regulatory agencies to intervene effectively. The Southeast Asianization highlights the geographical foothold of this new form of capitalism. Emerging market countries in Southeast Asia, with their weak regulation, underdeveloped financial systems, and thirst for foreign investment, coupled with cheap labor and certain gray areas of political-business collusion, have become a frontier testing ground for the convergence of offshore capital and on-chain assets. This region possesses the fertile ground for traditional offshore finance (such as lax foreign exchange controls and a corrupt environment) while also providing a safe haven for new technologies like cryptocurrencies. In other words, Southeast Asia acts as a "sandbox" for the invisible structure of global capitalism. Various capital forces can boldly experiment here, circulating gray funds digitally overseas. For example, the emergence of numerous online fraud zones and underground financial activities dominated by foreign funds in recent years in Cambodia, Sihanoukville, and Myanmar's "Special Economic Zones" exemplifies this trend. Chen Zhi and Prince Group: A Perfect Microcosm of Web 2.0 Chen Zhi and his Cambodian Prince Group are a prime example of "web capitalism 2.0": traditional elite protection, local gray industries, on-chain money laundering channels, and global offshore structures are all integrated. Looking at Chen Zhi's business empire, its registered entities span mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and offshore jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the Cayman Islands, forming a complex holding network. According to an investigation by Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao, Chen Zhi is associated with as many as 128 companies worldwide, 17 of which are registered in Singapore. Most of these companies declare their business activities as investment consulting, real estate, and intermediary services, but their actual functions are questionable. Many shell companies also employ a "multiple names in multiple locations" strategy—for example, names like Alphaconnect, Alphaconnect Investments II, Greenbay, Binary, and Drew appear simultaneously in the registers of Singapore and Taiwan. Four companies with the same name were all established around the same time in early 2019, and the person behind them is Singaporean citizen Lim Zhongliang, yet Lim himself is not on the sanctions list. These companies, whose business scope covers investment consulting and international trade in both locations, utilize local legal structures (such as Singapore's exempted private companies) to conceal the identity of their controlling shareholders. It was also disclosed that Chen Zhi directly holds shares in many companies in Singapore registered as private limited companies (requiring shareholder disclosure), while the aforementioned exempted companies are directly held by him with no more than 20 shareholders, exempting them from institutional shareholder disclosure. Real Estate and Infrastructure: Chen Zhi's aggressive expansion is also inseparable from the Asian financial center, namely the Hong Kong capital market. From 2017 to 2019, he successively acquired controlling stakes in two Hong Kong Main Board listed companies, Zhihaoda Holdings (01707.HK) and Kun Group Holdings (00924.HK). Zhihaoda Holdings (01707.HK): Originally a Hong Kong local engineering contractor, it was listed in October 2017. Just over a year after its listing, the original shareholders swiftly sold off their entire stake in December 2018, allowing Chen Zhi to acquire all shares and instantly become the controlling shareholder with a 54.79% stake. In the same month, Chen Zhi became an executive director and brought in his confidant, Qiu Dong, a senior executive at Prince Group, to co-direct the board. Subsequently, the company began to "Cambodia-ize," expanding into Cambodian real estate development from 2019 while maintaining its core Hong Kong engineering business, and further entering the luxury goods sales sector in 2023. Chen Zhi himself served as a director of its luxury goods subsidiary until his resignation in mid-2023. It is noteworthy that even though Chen Zhi ostensibly resigned from his position at Zhihaoda in July of this year, companies he controls still maintain business dealings with Zhihaoda. For example, Zhihaoda admitted to providing property management services for Hong Kong properties held by Chen Zhi's companies, and the company's cash was once deposited in Prince Bank, controlled by Chen Zhi. This indicates that Chen Zhi's financial ties with the listed company have not been completely severed. Kun Group Holdings (00924.HK): A Singapore-based electromechanical engineering company registered in the Cayman Islands, listed in Hong Kong in July 2019. In January 2023, the founding Hong family sold all their shares, and Chen Zhi took over, becoming the controlling shareholder with a 55% stake. Kun Group's main business is providing electromechanical engineering for Singapore government housing projects. After listing, it was still operated by the original management. It is worth mentioning that after the US OFAC sanctions list was announced, Kun Group acknowledged Chen Zhi as the actual controlling shareholder and announced that his shareholding ratio was approximately 55%. Although Chen Zhi does not hold a director position in Kun Group, he has clearly achieved control of the company through behind-the-scenes investment. In Hong Kong, including the two listed companies mentioned above, Chen Zhi directly or indirectly controls 10 other companies. Most of these companies are for holding and investment purposes. For example, the US indictment reveals that the Hong Kong shell company Hing Seng Ltd. acted as Chen Zhi's underground bank for transferring huge sums of money across borders. Investigations show that in just four months, from November 2022 to March 2023, Hing Seng transferred approximately US$60 million to an affiliated company in Laos responsible for the Prince Group's cryptocurrency mining business. The funds from this Lao mining company were subsequently used to pay for the luxury consumption of the spouses of Prince Group executives, including the purchase of Rolex watches and Picasso paintings. Sun Weiqiang, the sole shareholder and director of Hing Seng, is registered with a Shantou, China ID card, but has no other publicly available resume and is not listed on any sanctions list. This suggests that these Hong Kong shell companies were merely "fronts" for Chen Zhi to manage his funds, potentially concealing real financial operators and the destination of overseas assets. Hong Kong, as a free financial center, provided Chen Zhi with an excellent breeding ground for money laundering. He laundered funds through engineering, real estate, and luxury goods sales, and held luxury homes and commercial properties in the city. According to the Hong Kong Economic Journal, Chen Zhi's affiliated companies owned the entire building at 68 Kimberley Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, and purchased the prestigious Mount Nicholas Villa on The Peak for HK$1.4 billion.

Source: Photo by Yu Junliang

Gambling Industry Investment and Money Laundering:

Cambodia's gambling industry was once booming, and the Prince Group actively engaged in casino and online gambling businesses. In addition to participating in several casino hotels in Sihanoukville, the Prince Group undertook projects such as the Golden Fortune Technology Park in the Cambodia-China border region, which was actually an online casino and fraud center. At the same time, it also controlled online gambling platforms such as Amiga Entertainment, registered online casino licenses overseas, and recruited gamblers in China through websites and apps.

A Chinese court ruling found that Prince Group obtained over 5 billion yuan in revenue through illegal online gambling and engaged in large-scale money laundering. The highly anonymous and cross-border nature of funds in the gambling industry made it a crucial channel for Chen Zhi's money laundering—the buying and selling of gamblers' chips and the offsetting transactions between betting companies allowed illicit funds to be mixed into cash flow. US prosecutors pointed out that some of Prince Group's fraudulent proceeds were laundered through its gambling business before flowing into legitimate accounts. Huione Group was identified as one of the core channels through which Chen Zhi secretly operated massive cash flows in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Huione Group claimed to provide leading financial technology services, including electronic payments (HuionePay). According to multiple sources, Huione's founder was a former financial manager under Chen Zhi at Prince Group, thus maintaining a close relationship with him. According to FinCEN, a US-based financial media outlet, between August 2021 and January 2025, the Huiwang Group assisted in laundering at least $4 billion in illicit funds. Of this, approximately $37 million originated from North Korean hacking, $36 million from cryptocurrency investment scams, and about $300 million was linked to other cybercrimes. Huiwang was even dubbed the "world's largest online black market" platform. An investigation by US blockchain analytics firm Elliptic found that Huiwang had built a "one-stop crime platform" on Telegram, aggregating black market merchants selling malware, personal data, and money laundering services, primarily serving Southeast Asian cryptocurrency scam groups. As early as May 2015, Telegram banned all channels and groups related to Huiwang, indicating the platform's long-standing notoriety. In this joint US-UK operation, FinCEN directly identified Huiwang Group as a key hub in the Prince Group's money laundering network, and the US, under Section 311 of the Patriot Act, ruled to sever all ties between Huiwang and the US financial system. The sanctions notice requires all financial institutions to prohibit opening or maintaining agency accounts for HSBC and to prevent it from indirectly accessing the US dollar system. Chen Zhi, through shadow financial institutions like HSBC, wove a vast money laundering network both overtly and covertly. Following the recent news of US and UK sanctions, large numbers of Cambodians flocked to HSBC's offline currency exchange points, even selling their electronic cash at a 10% discount in an attempt to escape as quickly as possible. [Image of exposed related companies] [Image of cryptocurrency and cigars] [Image of Bitcoin mining as the most "innovative" money laundering method in Chen Zhi's criminal network] The indictment reveals that Chen Zhi invested a large portion of the defrauded funds into a cryptocurrency mining business he controlled, thereby "mining" new Bitcoins without any criminal taint. In this seemingly legitimate Bitcoin mining process, the original illicit money was transformed into "clean" digital assets derived from blockchain rewards, attempting to sever the link between the funds and the crime. More notably, Chen Zhi also quietly acquired a stake in Habanos S.A., the world's largest Cuban cigar company. Habanos is a cigar monopoly jointly owned by the Cuban government and Spain, holding exclusive distribution rights for high-end cigar brands worldwide. In 2020, British tobacco giant Imperial Brands decided to sell its high-end cigar business, including a 50% stake in Habanos. Chen Zhi, through Allied Cigar Corporation registered in Hong Kong, acquired this stake for €1.04 billion that year. Following the transaction, Allied Cigar underwent frequent structural changes within months. In April, it transferred shares to Allied Cigar Fund L.P., a fund registered in the Cayman Islands. In May, the company was renamed Instant Alliance Ltd., and in November, the shares were transferred to an individual named Zhang Pingshun. The company was dissolved in June 2021. This series of dazzling changes made it difficult for outsiders to identify the actual beneficiary behind Habanos. In late 2023, Gothenburg police in Sweden obtained documents (file number MKN-2025–5445) while investigating a cigar smuggling case, revealing the shareholding structure of Habanos Nordic, which involved Chen Zhi and a Hong Kong company, Asia Uni Corporation Ltd. The Swedish cigar media outlet Cigar World published this police document, confirming that Chen Zhi indirectly controlled 50% of Habanos' shares through multiple layers of companies (including Asia Uni, a Hong Kong-based company). Asset Recovery and Fund Destination As of now, in addition to the aforementioned massive amount of Bitcoin seized by the US, law enforcement agencies are also tracking the whereabouts of other assets of the Chen Zhi Group. For example, the US Department of Justice is seeking civil forfeiture of Chen Zhi's assets and bank accounts in the US and has issued an arrest warrant for him. Properties frozen in the UK are awaiting court rulings for confiscation. Cambodian authorities, under international pressure, stated that if there is sufficient evidence, they will cooperate with foreign law enforcement and will not protect violators. However, the Cambodian government has not yet taken action against Chen Zhi himself, and the apparent operations of his domestic companies have been virtually unaffected. The Prince Group has even publicly denied all allegations, claiming it was due to "criminals misappropriating its name." Attempts by some Prince Group executives to transfer assets are also underway; for example, the Hong Kong-listed company involved hastily clarified its separation from Chen Zhi. According to the Hong Kong Economic Journal, Hong Kong police announced that they have frozen assets of a group suspected of international telecommunications fraud and money laundering, involving HK$2.75 billion. Although not named, the group is known to be linked to Chen Zhi, founder of the Prince Group in Cambodia. Police stated that the frozen assets include cash, stocks, and funds, believed to be proceeds of crime. The global capital network woven by Chen Zhi and the Prince Group has been dismantled layer by layer by law enforcement agencies in multiple countries. This network, through a model of "fraud parks—underground banks—Bitcoin mining farms—shell companies—luxury goods," facilitated the cross-border flow and laundering of illicit gains from Southeast Asia to Europe and America. From Hong Kong luxury homes and London office buildings to shares in a Cuban cigar company and tens of thousands of Bitcoin wallets, all reveal astonishing traces of wealth transfer. Behind this wealth lies the blood and tears of hundreds of thousands of victims who have lost everything, and the suffering of tens of thousands trafficked, imprisoned, and forced into labor. Just as Herman Karl Ram established the "industry standard" for 20th-century American robbers, Chen Zhi and his affiliated group may have demonstrated to the public how 21st-century offshore capitalism can leverage geographical advantages and emerging technologies to launder large sums of gray income. However, Web3 is not a lawless zone. While the gray market has attempted to evade regulation using the decentralization and anonymity of blockchain, they will ultimately face systemic liquidation due to on-chain transparency. This traceability, in turn, provides an unprecedented technological foundation for global anti-money laundering and anti-fraud efforts.