The full text is long, and I've compiled 10 pieces of incremental information:
1. Started as a hacker:
Chen Zhi is a member of the "Knight Attack Group," who started his career by posting ads on (legendary) private server websites, earning nearly 100 million yuan. In 2011, Chongqing police arrested 19 people, but Chen Zhi was not among them, and he subsequently fled to Cambodia.
2. Claims net worth of 60 billion USD:
The 15 billion USD in Bitcoin frozen by U.S. authorities is only one quarter of his total assets. Zhang Gangyao stated that Chen Zhi once boasted his net worth reached 60 billion USD.
3. The 'first fortune' came from a mysterious uncle:
The offshore banking leak documents show that Chen Zhi claimed his assets came from a 2 million USD loan from his uncle, but when the bank asked for details about the uncle, the records were abruptly cut off.
4. Daily earnings of $30 million:
The indictment reveals that in 2018, the conspirators claimed the 'Prince Group's' 'pig-butchering' scam earned over $30 million daily, while legitimate business profits amounted to only hundreds of millions. Chen Zhi boasted: 'The Prince Group is highly profitable because it has no costs.'
5. Picasso artworks + Cuban cigar empire:
Money laundering proceeds were used to purchase watches, yachts, private jets, and Picasso artworks. Through a six-layer offshore structure, they controlled 50% equity in the world-class Cuban cigar brand Habanos, receiving €70 million in dividends alone in 2024.
6. Passport collecting:
Held Cambodian nationality (revoked), a Cypriot passport (purchased for $2.5 million), Vanuatu citizenship, and previously obtained a diplomatic passport to visit the U.S. through bribery of an official.
7. The mango processing plant transformed into a fraud园区:
The Min-Cambodia Industrial Park under Prince Group was originally a mango processing plant, which had been unprofitable for years and was transformed into the 'Mango园区' (also known as Jin Hong园区) after 2021 at the latest, becoming a hub for online fraud.
8. Operating global fraud through园区 divisions:
The indictment reveals that the Jin Hong园区 was divided by region: 'China Premium Chat,' 'Taiwan Premium Chat,' 'Europe & US Premium Chat,' 'Russia Drop-shipping,' 'Vietnam Drop-shipping,' 'China Stocks,' etc., operated across time zones.
9. Thousand phones: 1,250 phones controlling 76,000 social media accounts, with detailed guidance including 'use less attractive female profile pictures to appear more authentic.'
10. Already entered China's focus since 2020:
Beijing Public Security Bureau's '5·27' task force initiated an investigation into the Prince Group in 2020, arresting 458 people; Sichuan's '2·02' task force traced涉案 funds amounting to hundreds of millions of yuan. China had been monitoring Chen Zhi for six years.
