Swedish Habanos Importer gets Reprieve to present Chen Zhi's Cambodian tax and criminal records
While Chen Zhi – founder of the Prince group, shareholder of Habanos and suspected of international money laundering, fraud and human trafficking – is being hunted by the FBI and seeing his assets seized in country after country, the municipality of Gothenburg is slowly moving forward with obtaining his criminal record from Cambodia.
Published: 2025-11-03, at 19:53
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.
Chen Zhi as a Person of Significant Interest
As Cigarrvärlden previously reported, the Municipality of Gothenburg is conducting a review of the tobacco permit for the Swedish Habanos importer Elite Trading Scandinavia AB, in which Chen Zhi, now wanted by the US, is a central figure as he owns 28.55 percent of the company. If the Municipality of Gothenburg determines that Chen Zhi is therefore to be considered a person with significant influence (PSI), a permit can only be granted if he – in the words of the Swedish Tobacco Act – “taking into account his personal and financial circumstances and the circumstances in general is suitable to carry out the business”. In layman´s terms, this means that the permit holder should not have tax debts (or even delays) or have a criminal record, at least not in the near future.
The Regulatory Process
Usually, the municipality checks this information with the Swedish Tax Agency, the Swedish Enforcement Authority and the Police, but since the Chinese-born Chen Zhi is a citizen of Cambodia – in addition to purchased citizenships in Cyprus, Vanuatu and Saint Lucia – it becomes trickier, since Cambodian authorities are more difficult to contact. At the end of June, Elite Trading Scandinavia was therefore summoned to obtain this information through its parent company.
Image 1: Elite Trading Scandinavia's request for a reprieve.
In a first attempt, Elite Trading Scandinavia failed to deliver what was required. A screenshot purporting to show an extract from the Dow Jones Risk Center was deemed insufficient. The municipality demanded documents that they approved and gave them until October 27 to submit certified documents from Cambodia's tax and justice authorities. A couple of days before the deadline expired, however, Elite Trading Scandinavia announced that their parent company "is working very hard to obtain requested documents from Cambodian authorities regarding Mr Chen Zhi" but that they will not be able to deliver on time and need an extra 45 days. They state that they then have "a reasonable possibility" to obtain the documents. Why things would go better this time was not clear. The requested reprieve was granted by the municipality until December 10.
A New Individual Connected to Elite Trading Scandinavia suspected of Violating The Companies Act
At the same time, another headache may be brewing at Elite Trading Scandinavia. Another PSI turns out to be suspected of violating the Companies Act. The municipality of Gothenburg has, for unclear reasons, classified those documents, but it is clear from annual reports that Cigarrvärlden has reviewed that this PSI transferred funds from his company to himself in 2018 (as an unauthorized loan to the shareholders, this is has tax implications, hence it is not allowed). Since the suspected illicit transfers dates back more than three years, it should have no significance for Gothenburg's review of the tobacco permit, but in combination with what has emerged about the owner Chen Zhi, it could be interpreted as a sign of mismanagement over a longer period of time.
Footnote: Cigarrvärlden has contacted two department heads, two unit heads and an administrator at the Municipality of Gothenburg by telephone to no avail. Cigarrvärlden has since Friday contacted the municipality by email and received a response that the municipality will return this week. Cigarrvärlden has contacted the PSI who may be suspected of violating the Companies Act both by email and by telephone to no avail. Elite Trading Scandinavia AB's representative by proxy replied that he did not want to give any comments.
The questions that have been asked of the municipality, the representative and the PSI are:
Municipality:
How is it that the American indictment that you have actually received and which is publicly available on the DOJ's website is not recorded in the case if it is part of the municipalities investigation?
How come none of the reporting [media. editor's note] is part of the municipalities investigation?
Why is it that the municipality doesn't have better procedures for handling tips, and doesn't it erode public trust if tips are forgotten or ignored?
How has the municipality reasoned when it approved a 45-day reprieval?
Representative & PSI:
How do you assess the possibility [of the documents to which the reprieval relates to editor's note] to materialize?
Since Elite Trading Scandinavia's turnover is small in relation to the rest of the group's revenue, what is the likelihood that Chen Zhi will appear before the authorities to produce the requested documents?
Only PBI:
Do you consider that [the transfer suspected of violating the Companies Act , editor's note] may affect the investigation in a way that is not favorable to Elite Trading Scandinavia AB?
Here are Cigarrvärldens previous articles about Chen Zhi:
DOJ Tightens Noose On Owner Behind Cuban Cigar Giant
Prince Group's latest rebuttal published in full
Singapore Police Force Seize Assets worth USD 150 Million linked to Prince group and Chen Zhi
Edits/updates in order, by date/time: added footnote:
The Editorial Team
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