Authorities put fresh squeeze on Prince Group founder Chen Zhi in $1.1B asset seizure

Hong Kong’s High Court has frozen assets that belong to Prince Group founder Chen Zhi and his associates worth HK$8.93 billion (approximately $1.1 billion). 

The court granted a restraining order in May, and it covers bank deposits, properties, and stock holdings across 42 individuals and companies linked to the alleged crypto fraud and forced-labor operation.

What did the Hong Kong court order target?

Hong Kong’s Department of Justice first applied for the restraining order in late April under the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance, targeting Chen Zhi, Zhou Yun, Li Thet, Hu Xiaowei (also known as Wu An Ming), and 38 companies registered in Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the British Virgin Islands.

The frozen assets include 165 bank and securities accounts holding more than HK$43.6 billion in cash and over HK$5.5 billion in equities.

Chen Zhi’s personal exposure in Hong Kong is reportedly more than HK$63.6 billion. Among his holdings are deposits worth over HK$22.1 billion that are spread across accounts denominated in Hong Kong dollars, US dollars, British pounds, euros, and Swiss francs.

The court filings also revealed that Chen holds a Hong Kong identity card, as well as passports from Cambodia, Vanuatu, and Cyprus.

Two high-value properties linked to Chen were also frozen. One of them is a commercial building at 68 Kimberley Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, held through a company called Cheer Capital Limited, and it carries an estimated market value of HK$3 billion. 

The other property is a villa at Mount Nicholson on The Peak, which was purchased in 2016 for HK$1.08 billion through a BVI shell company, and is now valued at roughly HK$1 billion. 

Other people with Prince Group ties were implicated 

Chen is not the only one facing the heat, as Zhou Yun, one of his associates who was identified in US sanctions filings as a manager of Chen’s wealth, reportedly controls assets worth over HK$2 billion.

Hu Xiaowei, alleged to be a behind-the-scenes principal of Prince Group, holds around HK$400 million in Hong Kong assets, including a residential unit at Park Avenue in Olympic Station valued at HK$15 million. These include a network of insurance and securities companies operating under the “Mighty Divine” brand, which have since been delisted by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission and Insurance Authority.

Court filings revealed that he used a trust structure through a Hong Kong company called Future Wing Financial to hold stakes in listed companies Boyaa Interactive (0434) and HKE Holdings (1726), keeping his ownership below the 5% disclosure threshold.

Li Thet, Prince Group’s chief financial officer, holds HK$172 million in Hong Kong assets. US authorities have accused Li of managing the group’s illicit fund flows and overseeing bulk cash smuggling operations.

The court will be reconvening on August 3 to decide on extending the restraining order. Chen and his associates have been ordered to disclose six years of financial records, including all assets held in Hong Kong and overseas, before a July deadline.

Prince Group and Chen Zhi’s assets are being seized internationally

The Hong Kong freeze is the latest in a chain of enforcement actions that have been happening across multiple jurisdictions against Chen and Prince Group.

In October 2025, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted Chen for operating forced-labor scam compounds across Cambodia that ran “pig butchering” cryptocurrency schemes.

The DOJ also filed a civil forfeiture complaint against approximately 127,271 Bitcoins, then worth around $15 billion, linked to Prince Group. It was reported as the largest forfeiture action in the department’s history.

Singapore’s police seized assets worth more than S$165 million (approximately $115 million) linked to the group in a single enforcement operation on October 30, 2025. That seizure included six properties, bank accounts, securities, a yacht, and 11 vehicles.

Chen was arrested in Cambodia in January 2026 and extradited to China, where he now faces charges of fraud and operating illegal casinos. His Cambodian citizenship was revoked. Chinese state media identified him as the head of a “major cross-border gambling and fraud criminal syndicate.”

Cambodia’s National Assembly passed a law in March 2026 imposing penalties up to life imprisonment for operators of forced-labor fraud compounds. Chen’s associate Li Xiong, former chairman of Prince Group subsidiary Huione Group, was also extradited to China.

The case number for the Hong Kong proceedings is HCMP661/2026.