Chairman Cheon Joo of Scam Syndicate 'Prince Group' Arrested in Cambodia and Extradited to China

Systematic Extortion and Human Trafficking Targeting Victims Worldwide

On January 7, AFP reported that Cheonju (38), Chairman of Prince Group, who has been identified as being behind a large-scale criminal compound in Cambodia, was arrested and extradited to China.

Cheonju, Chairman of Prince Group. Prince Group Homepage

The Cambodian Ministry of Interior announced in a statement that day that Cambodian authorities had arrested and extradited three Chinese nationals to China: Cheonju, Xu Jiliang, and Xiao Jihu.

The Ministry of Interior explained that the arrest operation was carried out on January 6 to crack down on transnational crime. The ministry also stated that Cheonju’s Cambodian citizenship was revoked by royal decree in December of last year.

In October of last year, the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Prince Group and Chairman Cheonju, stating that they had operated criminal compounds in Cambodia and elsewhere that systematically extorted money from victims worldwide and tortured trafficked laborers. In November of last year, the South Korean government also imposed independent sanctions on Prince Group, Chairman Cheonju, 15 individuals, and 132 organizations.

Cheonju, originally from China, is known to have amassed enormous wealth by naturalizing as a Cambodian citizen, forging close ties with the political establishment, and operating large-scale scam criminal compounds.