EU sanctions Prince Group, DKBA over cyberscams

The European Union imposed sanctions on Prince Holding Group, its chairman Chen Zhi and the Myanmar armed group Democratic Karen Benevolent Army over alleged cyberscams targeting victims worldwide.

Brussels placed Prince Holding Group and Chen Zhi on an asset-freeze and visa-ban blacklist, accusing them of building scam centre compounds in Cambodia and Myanmar through front companies.

The EU said the centres carried out cryptocurrency investment scams and other fraudulent schemes. It also said many people from different countries were trafficked or lured under false pretences, held against their will and forced to run online scams aimed at victims around the world.

Chen Zhi, the China-born founder of Prince Group, was extradited by Phnom Penh to China in January after the US and UK governments sanctioned his Cambodian conglomerate months earlier over its alleged involvement in cyberscams.

The EU also blacklisted the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, or DKBA, accusing it of facilitating large-scale scam centres by allowing illegal compounds to operate under its protection. Brussels said DKBA soldiers had been reported to participate in violence against human trafficking victims trapped inside the compounds.

The DKBA controls territory on the Myanmar-Thailand border and was sanctioned by Washington in November. Cambodian authorities say they are cracking down on scam syndicates after pressure from countries including the United States, Britain and China.