Cambodian tycoon Chen Zhi, recently indicted in the U.S. for allegedly running a massive cyber-fraud organization, was himself caught up in a multi-million-dollar financial dispute involving the director of his Singapore-based family office years before his international legal troubles began. Court records reveal a complex web of wealth management, regulatory compliance, and accusations of misappropriation that ultimately led to a default judgment against Chen’s former financial manager.
The internal conflict first surfaced in 2021 when Chen’s investment entities filed suit against Singaporean David Wong, the sole director of Chen’s family office operations, alleging he had siphoned S$5.84 million (approximately US$4.5 million) from an OCBC bank account. Singapore’s High Court subsequently issued a default judgment in 2022, holding Wong and affiliated entities liable for over S$12 million. Wong, who denies any wrongdoing, has since sought bankruptcy protection.
The Breakdown of Trust
The relationship between Chen and Wong began in 2017. Chen, reportedly seeking Singapore permanent residency, tasked Wong with establishing a sophisticated family-office structure. By 2018, Wong had successfully created DW Capital Holdings, secured tax exemptions, and established numerous banking relationships with institutions including Bank of Singapore, Deutsche Bank, and J. Safra Sarasin. Wong managed Chen’s interests across several entities, including Skyline Investment Management and CMFO, which marketed services to ultra-high-net-worth Asian families.
The arrangement fractured in mid-2021 during an operational consolidation at Duo Tower. Auditors conducting due diligence, led by Karen Chen Xiuling, requested critical financial data, including management accounts and bank records used to substantiate Chen’s wealth for regulatory compliance.
Investigators quickly uncovered several red flags. They noted that companies overseen by Wong appeared to be invoicing each other significant fees, and the official family office address was being used by unrelated businesses. Staff then found themselves locked out of the premises, and auditors were denied access to detailed OCBC bank statements. Partial records indicated that millions had been transferred over several years without Chen’s approval, often directed to entities bearing names similar to Wong’s personal companies.
When auditors eventually regained entry to the office, it had been largely emptied out, signaling the complete breakdown of the professional relationship.
Singapore Actions Mirror Global Crackdown
While Chen attempted to recover funds as a civil plaintiff in Singapore, his international legal profile dramatically darkened. Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice charged the 37-year-old founder of Prince Group with several federal crimes, including money laundering, wire fraud, and operating forced-labor “scam compounds” in Cambodia. These operations allegedly utilized trafficked workers in fraudulent online investment and cryptocurrency schemes, often referred to as “pig-butchering” scams, extracting billions from victims globally. Chen and Prince Group have denied all criminal allegations; he currently remains at large.
The exposure of this alleged criminal network has spurred coordinated enforcement actions across the region. The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned 146 individuals linked to the syndicate—an action paralleled by the U.K. authorities.
Singapore has played a key role in tracking the illicit finance. Following intelligence from the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office, Singapore police recently seized more than S$150 million in assets connected to Prince Group, including bank accounts, luxury properties, vehicles, and a yacht. Furthermore, Hong Kong authorities have frozen assets valued at HK$2.75 billion (US$354 million), and Taiwan has detained suspects and confiscated T$4.5 billion (US$147 million) related to the network.
The Singapore litigation records, which detailed everything from compliance with Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) tax-break regulations to the complex logistics of moving high-value goods, illustrate how, for several years, a man now officially designated a criminal mastermind operated openly within the city-state’s financial ecosystem. As of early November, Chen’s Singapore family office structure was reported to be shut down, with its principal’s whereabouts unknown.