China tightens net around Cambodia’s scam empire with new extradition

BEIJING, June 17 — An alleged leading member of a prominent crime syndicate that operated scam centres in Cambodia has been extradited back to China, Beijing said on Wednesday.

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 China, which has called for the complete eradication of the scam centres, Cambodian authorities say they are cracking down on the industry.

China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) published a video on Wednesday showing a man it identified as Liu Ren in handcuffs as security forces lifted a black bag off his head, after he had been escorted off a China Southern plane.

“Recently, with the strong support of relevant Cambodian authorities, a task force dispatched by the Ministry of Public Security successfully extradited Liu Ren – a key member of the Chen Zhi criminal syndicate – back to China from Phnom Penh,” the ministry said in a statement.

Phnom Penh extradited Chen Zhi in January after his Cambodian conglomerate was sanctioned by the US and UK governments months earlier over its alleged involvement in cyberscams.

The MPS hailed the extradition of Liu as a “success” in law enforcement cooperation with Cambodia.

Chen, the MPS said, had directed Liu and others to establish the Jin Bei Group in Cambodia in 2016, with the company operating “telecom fraud parks” in the country and committing “large-scale telecom and online fraud involving massive sums of money”.

Liu is also suspected of involvement in serious violent crimes, including “illegal detention and intentional injury”, the MPS added.

He is “currently being subjected to compulsory measures in accordance with the law”, and the case is under investigation.

In April, the China-born former boss of a financial services firm, Li Xiong, accused by the United States of laundering illicit funds for North Korean and Southeast Asia-based cybercriminals, was extradited from Cambodia. — AFP