Taiwanese authorities have frozen over NT$4.5 billion (HK$1.13 billion) in assets belonging to Cambodia-based fraud organization Prince Group led by Vincent Chen Zhi, including 26 luxury cars seized during a major operation on Tuesday.
The Taipei District Prosecutors Office coordinated 47 search locations across Taiwan, detaining 25 suspects linked to the fraud syndicate. The seized vehicles included Rolls-Royce and Ferrari models among other luxury automobiles.
Prosecutors stated that Chen's Prince Group engaged in fraud operations from Cambodia while establishing an extensive corporate network across multiple countries for money laundering purposes.
The action follows US sanctions imposed in October, when the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated nine Taiwan-based companies and three Taiwanese individuals connected to the group. US federal prosecutors had previously indicted Vincent Chen and his associates on October 8.
Taiwanese authorities have now frozen 60 bank accounts and secured court approval for the asset seizures as their investigation continues.
