The European Union on July 30 imposed sanctions on an alleged head of a crime syndicate that operated in Cambodia and an armed Myanmar group over cyberscams targeting victims worldwide.

Brussels said it was placing “multibillion-dollar conglomerate” Prince Holding Group and its chairman Chen Zhi on an assets freeze and visa ban blacklist for allegedly building “scam centre compounds in Cambodia and Myanmar through different front companies”.

“These scam centres perpetrate cryptocurrency investment scams and other fraudulent schemes,” the EU said.

“Furthermore, inside these centres, many victims from different countries are trafficked or lured under false pretences, held against their will, and forced to carry out online scams targeting victims around the world.”

Prince Group’s China-born founder Chen Zhi was extradited by Phnom Penh to China in January, after his Cambodian conglomerate was sanctioned by the US and British governments months earlier over its alleged involvement in cyberscams.

Cambodia has emerged as a hub for crime syndicates running fake romantic relationship and cryptocurrency investment schemes in which scammers – some willing, others trafficked – defraud internet users around the world.

But, under pressure from several countries, including the US, Britain and China, the Cambodian authorities say they are cracking down on the industry.

The EU also said it was blacklisting Myanmar armed group Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) for “facilitating large-scale scam centres, by allowing these illegal compounds to operate under its protection”.

“Soldiers of the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army have been reported to participate in violence against victims of human trafficking trapped inside the compound,” the EU said.

The DKBA, which controls territory on the Myanmar-Thailand border, was sanctioned by Washington in November. AFP

EU sanctions Prince Group, founder Chen Zhi over cyberscams