Prince Groups latest rebuttal published in full

On October 14, the US Department of Justice announced that charges had been brought against Chen Zhi, founder of the Prince group and co-owner of Habanos SA, for extensive fraud and money laundering. This has been reported by The Telegraph, The Guardian , New York Post , TT and Di amongst others. About a month ago Cigarrvärlden published an investigative article about Chen Zhi and his ties to the Swedish cigar industry titled: Cuban Cigars And Their Asian Partners – Slave Trade, Fraud And Money Laundering. Under The Nose Of The Regulatory Agency In Gothenburg, Sweden.

Published:  2025-10-26, at 13:09, Edited: 2025-10-29, at 07:38 

Disclaimer: Cigarrvärlden is owned and operated by Cigarrklubben CK Sverige AB, which also operates a cigar club and has a foot in both camps. To put it mildly. Divison and separation of operations and the editorial is explained under the section "Conflicts of Interest (in Swedish)". Cigarrvärlden operates under a ‘certificate of no legal impediment to publication conferring constitutional protection’ (utgivningsbevis). With this certificate, Cigarrvärlden enjoys a special legal status in Swedish law under the freedom of expression act.

Cigarrvärlden did not seek a comment from the Prince group which was motivated by the fact that no new information was presented about the group or about Chen Zhi and all of the rebuttals and denials was presented in the article. The fact that Chen Zhi is a public figure and Cambodias richest man is also a mitigating factor, they have to withstand some level of scrutiny. Every article about a head of state does not include a comment. Another factor was a review a previous rebuttals, they are categorical without any explanation or nuance and always contain a threat of litigation in the end.

But, we received a comment either way, and since CNN reports that all the previous rebuttals posted on the Prince Group website has been removed, and Chen Zhi has spiked a global media interest and no one seams able to get a comment on the matter from the Prince Group (there is one from March this year published in the Phnom Penh Post).

As of today, the only news outlet that has a somewhat up to date comment about the alleged fraud and the connection to the Jin-Bei complex is Cigarrvärlden (if you do, we probably have missed it).

So we decided to publish our email conversation from the 15th of september in full. The only thing that is omitted is our employees name due to security reasons. Gabriel Tans email address is disclosed, but he is no longer in the employ of The Prince Group. Gabriel Tan is by the way mentioned as a possible target for sanctions in the bill HR5490 - Dismantle Foreign Scam Syndicates Act, which was introduced in the US House of Representatives on September 18 this year.

Kindly credit us as the source if you choose to use the comments from Prince Group in your work.

Edits/updates in order, by date/time: added footnote: added Another factor was a review a previous rebuttals, they are categorical without any explanation or nuance and always contain a threat of litigation in the end.

Signed, the Editor in Chief.

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