Singapore police mounted an islandwide enforcement operation on 30 October against Cambodian businessman Chen Zhi and associates, seizing assets worth more than S$150 million and issuing prohibition-of-disposal orders on a yacht, 11 cars and multiple bottles of liquor, the Singapore Police Force said in a Friday statement.
What Commercial Affairs secured
The raids targeted six properties plus bank, securities and cash holdings, according to the release. Chen and known associates were not in Singapore when officers moved; investigations into money laundering under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes Act and forgery for cheating under the Penal Code are continuing. Director of Commercial Affairs David Chew said the case involves a transnational fraud network that exploited digital and financial infrastructure across jurisdictions and requires cooperation with foreign law enforcement and financial intelligence units.
Police said they began probing after suspicious transaction reports in 2024 and accelerated work after U.S. and UK press releases on 14 October detailing indictments and sanctions linked to Prince Holding Group, a conglomerate with hospitality and real-estate interests in Cambodia. The Monetary Authority of Singapore said local banks had filed suspicious transaction reports early and closed some accounts, limiting exposure in the financial sector.
How the yacht and fleet fit the file
Among the items barred from sale or transfer is a luxury yacht previously associated with Chen’s Singapore family office operations, along with high-end vehicles including a Mercedes-Maybach that local reporting linked to his movements. U.S. Treasury sanctions on 14 October also named three Singaporeans alleged to have managed yacht and financial services for Chen; their assets in the United States were blocked. Singapore authorities did not confirm whether those individuals were present during Thursday’s raids.
U.S. prosecutors have accused Chen of wire fraud and money laundering connected to forced-labour scam compounds in Cambodia; he has been charged in absentia in New York. British and American agencies say Prince Group operations moved large cryptocurrency flows tied to online fraud. Singapore’s operation does not replace those foreign cases but locks local trappings authorities say were purchased with illicit proceeds.
What happens next in Singapore
Prohibition orders keep the assets frozen while investigators trace beneficial ownership and coordinate with the Anti-Money Laundering Case Coordination and Collaboration Network. Chew warned that organised groups continue to test Singapore’s financial centre and that exhibits and witnesses sit in multiple countries. For victims of online scams routed through Southeast Asian compounds, the immediate significance is jurisdictional: a major node of alleged laundering now has S$150 million in local property and accounts under police control, even if the alleged mastermind remains overseas.