Cambodia has emerged as a hotspot for cyberscam operations in recent years, with transnational crime groups initially largely targeting Chinese speakers before widening their targets and stealing tens of billions of dollars annually from victims around the world.

China's state-run broadcaster CCTV showed a shaven-headed Li Xiong in handcuffs being escorted by Chinese police off a China Southern plane on Wednesday.

State news agency Xinhua said Li was central to a "major cross-border gambling and fraud syndicate", citing China's Ministry of Public Security.

"Investigations found that Li Xiong, the former chairman of Huione Group under the Prince Group, is suspected of multiple crimes," state-run CCTV said.

Chen Zhi, the founder of the US-indicted Prince Group, was extradited to China from Cambodia in January.

The CCTV report called Li "a core member of Chen Zhi's criminal gang".

Also born in China, Chen served as an adviser to both Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father, former leader Hun Sen.

Hun Manet told AFP in February that the government "did not know that he was the kingpin" and pushed back on allegations of government connivance.

He said scam centres were destroying Cambodia's economy and giving the nation a bad name.

Chen and Li had both been granted Cambodian citizenship, which was later revoked by Phnom Penh.

"At present, Li Xiong has been placed under coercive measures according to the law," CCTV said.

Li was arrested in Cambodia and deported at the request of Chinese authorities following a months-long joint investigation, Cambodia's interior ministry said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the foreign ministry in Beijing said "combating online gambling and telecoms fraud is the shared responsibility of the global community".

- 'Cyber heists' -

Organised criminal gangs have used casinos, hotels and fortified compounds across Southeast Asia as bases to carry out sophisticated online scams, defrauding people around the world through fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investment schemes, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Cambodia hosts dozens of scam centres with tens of thousands of people perpetrating online scams, some willingly and others trafficked, rights monitors say.

Washington alleged last year that Prince Group, one of Cambodia's biggest conglomerates, has served as a front for "one of Asia's largest transnational criminal organizations".

US prosecutors accused its founder Chen of directing the operations of forced labour compounds across Cambodia, where trafficked workers were held in prison-like facilities surrounded by high walls and barbed wire.

Prince Group has denied the allegations.

The US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) designated Huione Group a "primary money-laundering concern" in May, saying it had facilitated more than $4 billion in illegal transactions between August 2021 and January 2025.

FinCEN prohibited US financial institutions in October from maintaining accounts for Huione and processing transactions involving the Cambodia-based firm.

"Huione Group serves as a critical node for laundering proceeds of cyber heists" carried out by North Korea and for "transnational criminal organizations in Southeast Asia perpetrating virtual currency investment scams, commonly known as 'pig butchering' scams, among others," it said.

Cambodian authorities have vowed to close all online scam centres by the end of April.

The law enforcement push, which analysts have criticised as window-dressing, follows Chen's arrest and has seen thousands of people fleeing suspected scam sites in recent months.