TechFlow, October 21 — According to Red Star News, after joint U.S.-UK sanctions were imposed on Cambodia's "Prince Group" and its founder Chen Zhi, five South Korean banks have frozen over 91 billion KRW in assets belonging to the group. Among them, a branch of Korea’s Kookmin Bank froze 56.7 billion KRW.
Due to the sanctions, "Prince Bank," a subsidiary of the "Prince Group," has fallen into a bank run crisis. Large numbers of customers queued for withdrawals, multiple branches suspended transactions due to "insufficient liquidity," and the bank’s website and mobile app became temporarily inaccessible. The South Korea Financial Services Commission stated it will impose financial sanctions on the group within this month.
Earlier reports indicated that the U.S. Department of Justice seized nearly 130,000 bitcoins—worth up to $15 billion—from a Cambodian telecom fraud network, with the "Prince Group" identified as the mastermind behind the operation. Founder Chen Zhi remains at large.
