It comes after the US Justice Department last month unsealed an indictment against Chen Zhi, founder of Prince Holding Group that Washington said served as a front for “one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organisations”.
Investigators in Taipei raided 47 locations on Tuesday, including the homes of senior members and associates of the group, the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau said in a statement.
They seized 18 properties, including 11 apartments in an upmarket residential building, 26 luxury vehicles, and dozens of bank accounts worth more than NT$4.5 billion (US$145 million). And 25 “key figures” were arrested as part of the ongoing investigation, the statement said.
Since around 2015, Prince Group has operated across more than 30 countries under the guise of legitimate real estate, financial services and consumer businesses, US prosecutors said. Proceeds were laundered in part through the Prince Group’s own gambling and cryptocurrency mining operations.
US and UK authorities unveiled sanctions last month freezing Chen’s businesses and properties in both countries, while Washington’s indictment charges him with fraud and money laundering involving Bitcoin worth about $15 billion.
The two countries allege Chen directed operations of forced labour compounds across Cambodia, where thousands of workers were held surrounded by high walls and barbed wire. Under threat of violence, many were forced to execute “pig butchering” scams — cryptocurrency investment schemes that build trust with victims over time before stealing their funds.
Chen was born in China, according to media reports, and holds both British and Cambodian citizenship. Singapore police last week seized more than $115 million in assets tied to Chen.
