Prince Group stashes away over $63 mil. at Cambodian branches of Korean banks: lawmaker

Prince Bank in Phnom Penh, Cambodia / Yonhap

Over 90 billion won ($63 million) has been stashed away at Cambodian branches of Korean banks by Cambodian conglomerate Prince Group, now suspected of having operated a global scam network, a lawmaker said Monday.

According to Rep. Kang Min-kuk of the main opposition People Power Party, the Cambodian group made 52 transactions at five local branches of Korean banks in the Southeast Asian nation, totaling over 197 billion won.

Of the total, about 91 billion won still remains deposited at the Cambodian branches of the Korean banks, including 56 billion won at KB Bank, 27 billion won at Jeonbuk Bank and 7 billion won at Woori Bank, the lawmaker said, citing data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

Prince Group has been sanctioned by the global community for its involvement in kidnapping, torture and murder.

The Korean government is also moving to sanction the Cambodian conglomerate as part of an international crackdown.

The banking community said KB Bank and the four other Korean banks had already frozen Prince Group's deposits as of Thursday.

During a parliamentary inspection, Lee Eog-weon, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, also said his agency will work quickly with related agencies to sanction Prince Group.

Earlier, the United States and Britain imposed sanctions on the group, while U.S. federal prosecutors indicted its chairman, Chen Zhi, on charges of fraud and money laundering.

Over the weekend, 64 Koreans who had been detained in Cambodia over alleged online scams arrived home on a chartered flight, with most of them now facing criminal probes as suspects.

The large-scale repatriation came after the torture death of a Korean college student, who reportedly was lured by a criminal ring in Cambodia, which triggered public outrage in Korea.

Their arrival came days after a Korean government response team was dispatched to Cambodia to assist Korean nationals involved in online scams run by local crime organizations, including Prince Group.