Unmasked: Scam kingpin Chen Zhi’s top associates held significant cache of assets in Singapore
Investigative reporting has identified Chen Xing, also known as Martin Chen, as a key associate of scam kingpin Chen Zhi in a massive global fraud syndicate. The investigation uncovered a complex network of shell companies and money laundering operations linked to Prince Holding Group.
Why it matters
This exposure sheds light on the sophisticated financial infrastructure supporting human trafficking and large-scale cyber-scam operations in Southeast Asia.
SINGAPORE: They were identified in a criminal indictment filed in New York on Oct 8, 2025, as the co-conspirators of scam kingpin Chen Zhi, with few clues about where they lived and operated.
Over the past six months, The Straits Times, working with investigative journalism group Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), combed through hundreds of pages of official records to unmask the second co-conspirator, a key figure in the multi-billion dollar scam syndicate.
The search uncovered a global web of shell companies, and revealed the sophisticated system used by Chen Zhi and his company Prince Holding Group to launder billions of dollars in funds obtained on the back of foreigners forced to work in scam compounds in Cambodia.
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