The Black Money Behind the Cuban Cigar Empire: Unveiling Chen Zhi's "Spider Web Capitalism 2.0"

Author: Aki Wu said Blockchain

With the multinational crime empire of Chen Zhi, the actual controller of the Prince Group in Cambodia, being jointly exposed and cracked down on by the British and American governments, the complex global business network behind it has also surfaced. Shockingly, this notorious gang, infamous for its “pig-butchering” telecom scams, human trafficking, and forced labor, has managed to control 50% of the shares of Habanos, a top Cuban cigar company, through a complex offshore structure, with China being the largest consumption market for Habanos cigars. This unexpected connection reveals that, in the digital age, the illegal economy and legitimate businesses are intertwining into a new “capital spider web” through blockchain and offshore financial networks. This article attempts to analyze the operational logic of so-called “Spider Web Capitalism 2.0” from the Chen Zhi case—an upgrade of traditional offshore capitalism completed under blockchain technology and the special conditions of Southeast Asia, showcasing how a decentralized offshore capital network is formed.

Spider Web Capitalism 2.0 = Offshore Capitalism × Cryptocurrency × Southeast Asia

“Spider Web Capitalism 2.0” can be understood as a new form of capitalism in which traditional offshore financial networks achieve self-upgrade through blockchain technology. Offshore capitalism refers to the practice of capital moving globally through offshore financial centers and shell companies to avoid regulation and taxation. In the past, wealthy individuals and conglomerates often hid their assets in tax havens like the Cayman Islands and Swiss banks to evade domestic oversight. The rise of cryptocurrency has provided a new technological tool for such offshore operations: blockchain assets like Bitcoin can be transferred peer-to-peer globally, independent of traditional banking systems, thereby constructing a “decentralized offshore structure.” Nowadays, opening an on-chain wallet or exchanging stablecoins on a decentralized exchange is akin to having a Swiss account without a trust intermediary, allowing funds to flow globally without barriers and difficult to intercept. These on-chain assets, combined with shadow trading networks, enable massive wealth to be concealed within code and anonymous addresses, making it challenging for regulatory authorities to intervene effectively.

Southeast Asia's transformation highlights the geographical foothold of this new form of capitalism. Emerging market countries in Southeast Asia, due to weak regulation, an incomplete financial system, and a thirst for foreign investment, along with cheap labor and certain gray areas of collusion between politics and business, have become the forefront testing ground for offshore capital and on-chain assets. Here, there is both the soil of traditional offshore finance (such as loose foreign exchange controls and a corrupt environment) and a safe haven for new technologies like cryptocurrencies. In other words, Southeast Asia acts as a “sandbox” for the invisible structure of global capitalism. Various capital forces can boldly experiment with circulating gray funds digitally abroad. For example, in Cambodia, Sihanoukville, and Myanmar's “special economic zones,” a large number of online scam parks and underground financial activities dominated by foreign funds have emerged in recent years, reflecting this trend.

Chen Zhi and the Prince Group: A Perfect Microcosm of Spider Web 2.0

Chen Zhi and his controlled Prince Group of Cambodia can be regarded as a typical case of “Spider Web Capitalism 2.0”: traditional aristocratic protection, local gray industries, on-chain money laundering channels, and global offshore structures are integrated here. Looking at Chen Zhi's business empire, its registered entities are complexly spread across Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, as well as offshore jurisdictions like the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the Cayman Islands, forming an intricate holding network.

According to a survey by Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao, Chen Zhi has connections with as many as 128 companies worldwide, 17 of which are registered in Singapore. Most of these companies declare that they are engaged in investment consulting, real estate, intermediary services, and other businesses, but their actual functions are questionable. Many shell companies have adopted a “multi-location same name” strategy — for example, companies like Alphaconnect, Alphaconnect Investments II, Greenbay, Binary, Drew, etc., appear simultaneously in the registries of Singapore and Taiwan, China. Four companies with the same name were established almost on the same day in early 2019, all controlled by Singaporean citizen Lim Zhongliang, yet Lim himself is not on the sanctions list. These companies declare their businesses in both locations, covering investment advisory, international trade, etc., and use local legal structures (such as Singapore's exempt private company) to conceal the identities of their actual controllers. Additionally, it has been disclosed that the companies directly held by Chen Zhi in Singapore are mostly registered as private limited companies (which require disclosure of shareholders), while the aforementioned exempt companies are directly held by him, with no more than 20 shareholders, exempting them from institutional shareholder disclosure.

Real Estate and Infrastructure

Chen Zhi's aggressive expansion is also inseparable from the Asian financial center, namely the Hong Kong capital market. From 2017 to 2019, he successively took over two Hong Kong main board listed companies, Dihua Holdings (01707.HK) and Kun Group Holdings (00924.HK).

Zhihaoda Holdings (01707.HK): Originally a local engineering contractor in Hong Kong, it went public in October 2017. Just over a year after its listing, the original shareholders quickly exited in December 2018, with Chen Zhi taking over all the shares, instantly becoming the absolute controlling shareholder with a 54.79% stake. In the same month he took control, Chen Zhi became the executive director and brought in his confidant, Qiu Dong, an executive from the Prince Group, to serve as a director. Subsequently, the company's business began to undergo “Cambodization”, maintaining its main engineering business in Hong Kong while expanding into real estate development in Cambodia starting in 2019, and in 2023 even venturing into the luxury goods sales sector. Chen Zhi himself once served as a director of its luxury goods subsidiary until he resigned in mid-2023. Notably, even though Chen Zhi superficially resigned from his position at Zhihaoda in July this year, the companies he controls still have business dealings with Zhihaoda. For example, Zhihaoda has provided property management services for Hong Kong properties held by Chen Zhi's companies, and the company's cash has previously been deposited in Prince Bank, which is controlled by Chen Zhi. This indicates that the financial connection between Chen Zhi and the listed company has not been completely severed.

Kun Group Holdings (00924.HK): An electromechanical engineering company headquartered in Singapore and registered in the Cayman Islands, listed in Hong Kong in July 2019. In January 2023, the founding Hong family sold all their shares, and Chen Zhi took over, holding 55% of the shares to become the controlling shareholder. Kun Group mainly provides electromechanical engineering for Singapore government housing projects and continues to be operated by the original management team after listing. It is worth mentioning that after the announcement of the OFAC sanctions list in the United States, Kun Group acknowledged Chen Zhi as the actual controlling shareholder and announced his shareholding ratio of about 55%. Although Chen Zhi does not hold a directorship in Kun Group, he has clearly achieved control over the company through behind-the-scenes investments.

In Hong Kong, including the aforementioned two listed companies, Chen Zhi directly or indirectly controls 10 enterprises. Most of these companies are for the purpose of holding and investment. For example, the recent U.S. indictment reveals that the Hong Kong shell company Hing Seng Ltd acted as Chen Zhi's underground bank for cross-border transfers of large sums of money. Investigations show that Hing Seng transferred approximately $60 million to a related company in Laos responsible for the Prince Group's cryptocurrency mining business in just four months from November 2022 to March 2023. The funds from this Laotian mining company were subsequently used to pay for the luxury expenses of senior executives' spouses at the Prince Group, including the purchase of Rolex watches and Picasso paintings. The sole shareholder and director of Hing Seng, Sun Weiqiang, is registered with a Shantou, China ID, but has no public record beyond that and is not listed on any sanctions list. It is speculated that such Hong Kong shells are merely Chen Zhi's 'white gloves' for capital turnover, potentially corresponding to the actual fund operators and the whereabouts of overseas assets. As a free financial center, Hong Kong provides an excellent breeding ground for Chen Zhi's money laundering through businesses such as engineering, real estate, and luxury goods sales to legitimize funds, while holding local luxury homes and commercial properties. According to reports, Chen Zhi's affiliated company owns the entire building at 68 Kimberley Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, and purchased the top luxury villa MOUNT NICHOLSON on the Peak for 1.4 billion.

Source: Photo by Yu Junliang

Gambling industry investment and money laundering

The gambling industry in Cambodia once flourished, with the Prince Group actively involved in casino and online gambling businesses. In addition to participating in multiple casino hotels in Sihanoukville, the Prince Group has undertaken projects in the border areas of Cambodia, such as the Golden Fortune Technology Park, which are essentially online casinos and scam centers. At the same time, it also controls online gambling platforms like Amiga Entertainment, registering online casino licenses overseas and soliciting bets from within China through websites and apps. Chinese courts have ruled that the Prince Group obtained over 5 billion yuan in revenue through illegal online gambling and engaged in large-scale money laundering. The high anonymity of funds in the gambling industry and its cross-border flow characteristics make it an important channel for Chen Zhi's money laundering — chip trading among gamblers and matched betting by gambling companies can mix dirty money into cash flows. U.S. prosecutors pointed out that part of the scam proceeds from the Prince Group were laundered through its gambling business before flowing into legitimate accounts.

The “Huione Group” has been pointed out as one of the core channels for Chen Zhi's massive fund flows operating secretly in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Huione Group claims to provide leading financial technology services, including electronic payments (HuionePay). According to several insiders, the founder of Huione was previously a financial manager under Chen Zhi at the Prince Group, thus having a close relationship with him. The U.S. FinCEN revealed that between August 2021 and January 2025, Huione Group assisted in laundering at least $4 billion of illegal funds, of which approximately $37 million came from North Korean hacker theft, $36 million originated from virtual currency investment scams, and about $300 million was associated with other cyber crimes. Huione has even been referred to as the “largest online black market” platform — an investigation by the U.S. blockchain analytics company Elliptic found that Huione had built a “one-stop crime platform” on Telegram, gathering black market merchants selling malware, personal data, and money laundering services, primarily serving Southeast Asian crypto scam gangs. As early as May 2015, Telegram had banned all channels and groups associated with Huione, indicating that the platform had a notorious reputation. In this joint U.S.-U.K. crackdown, Huione Group was directly identified by FinCEN as a key hub in the Prince Group's money laundering network, and the U.S. ruled under Section 311 of the Patriot Act to sever any connections with the U.S. financial system. The sanctions announcement requires financial institutions to prohibit opening or maintaining agency accounts for Huione and to prevent indirect access to the dollar system. Through shadow financial institutions like Huione, Chen Zhi has woven a vast money laundering pipeline behind the scenes. Recently, after the news of U.S.-U.K. sanctions spread, a large number of Cambodian citizens rushed to Huione's offline currency exchange points, even willing to sell their electronic cash at a 10% discount in hopes of quickly escaping.

Partially exposed affiliated companies

cryptocurrency and cigars

Bitcoin mining is the most “innovative” money laundering method in Chen Zhi's criminal network. The indictment revealed that Chen Zhi invested a large amount of fraudulently obtained funds into his controlled cryptocurrency mining business, thereby “mining” new bitcoins that are free of criminal stains. In the seemingly legitimate process of bitcoin mining, the original dirty money is transformed into “clean” digital assets derived from Blockchain rewards, attempting to sever the connection between the funds and the crime.

But more notably, Chen Zhi has quietly acquired shares in Habanos S.A., the world's largest Cuban cigar company. Habanos is a cigar monopoly enterprise established by the Cuban government in collaboration with Spain, holding exclusive distribution rights for high-end cigar brands globally. In 2020, British tobacco giant Imperial Brands decided to sell its premium cigar business, including a 50% stake in Habanos. Chen Zhi, through the Hong Kong-registered Allied Cigar Corporation, invested €1.04 billion to acquire this stake that year. After the transaction was completed, Allied Cigar frequently changed its structure within a few months. In April, it transferred the shares to the Cayman Islands-registered fund Allied Cigar Fund L.P. In May, the company was renamed Instant Alliance Ltd, and in November, the shares were transferred to an individual named Zhang Pingshun. The company was dissolved in June 2021. A series of dazzling changes made it difficult for the outside world to confirm the actual beneficiaries behind Habanos.

At the end of 2023, the police in Gothenburg, Sweden, obtained documents (file number MKN-2025–5445) while investigating a cigar smuggling case, revealing the ownership structure of Habanos Nordic, which involves Chen Zhi and a Hong Kong company, Asia Uni Corporation Ltd. The Swedish cigar media “Cigar World” published this police document, confirming that Chen Zhi indirectly controls 50% of the shares of Habanos through multiple layers of companies, including the Hong Kong company, Hsiao Ya Enterprises Ltd, i.e., Asia Uni.

Asset Recovery and Fund Allocation

As of now, in addition to the aforementioned large amount of Bitcoin being seized by the U.S. authorities, law enforcement agencies are also tracking the whereabouts of other assets belonging to Chen Zhi's group. For example, the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking civil forfeiture of Chen Zhi's assets and bank accounts in the United States and has issued a wanted notice against him. The properties frozen in the UK are pending a court decision for confiscation. Cambodian authorities have stated under international pressure that they will cooperate with foreign law enforcement if there is sufficient evidence and will not shield wrongdoers. However, the Cambodian government has yet to take action against Chen Zhi himself, and the operations of his domestic enterprises seem to be largely unaffected. The Prince Group has even publicly denied all allegations, claiming that it was due to “criminals using their name”. Some senior executives of the Prince Group are also attempting to transfer assets, for instance, the Hong Kong-listed company involved hurriedly clarified its separation from Chen Zhi. According to reports, the Hong Kong police announced that they have frozen assets of a group suspected of international telecommunications fraud and money laundering, with the amount involved reaching HKD 2.75 billion. Although no names were mentioned, it is known that this group is related to Chen Zhi, the founder of the Cambodian Prince Group. The police indicated that the frozen assets include cash, stocks, and funds, which are believed to be criminal proceeds.

The global capital network woven by Chen Zhi and the Prince Group has been stripped away layer by layer by law enforcement agencies in multiple countries. This network has realized the cross-border flow and laundering of illegal gains from Southeast Asia to Europe and America through the model of “fraud parks - underground banks - Bitcoin mines - shell companies - luxury goods.” From Hong Kong luxury apartments to London office buildings, from Cuban cigar company shares to tens of thousands of Bitcoin wallets, all reveal astonishing traces of wealth transfer. Behind this wealth, however, are the tears and blood of hundreds of thousands of victims who have lost everything, and the suffering labor of tens of thousands who have been sold and imprisoned.

Just as Hermann Karl Ram established the “industry standard” for American bandits in the 20th century, Chen Zhi and his associated group may also have shown the public how offshore capitalism in the 21st century utilizes regional characteristics and emerging technologies to launder high gray income. However, Web3 is not a lawless land; although the gray industry once attempted to evade regulation by leveraging the decentralization and anonymity of Blockchain, they will ultimately face systemic liquidation brought about by on-chain transparency. This traceability, on the contrary, provides an unprecedented technical foundation for global anti-money laundering and anti-fraud efforts.