Cambodia said on Wednesday it had extradited three people to China, including an individual named Chen Zhi, after a joint investigation into transnational crime amid international probes into sprawling "scam centres".

An interior ministry statement said those extradited on Tuesday were all Chinese nationals. It did not provide further details on Chen or the alleged crimes, but said his Cambodian citizenship had been revoked.

The Prince Group of businesses, ‍headed by the Chinese-Cambodian tycoon Chen, has been sanctioned by the US and Britain, accused ⁠of operating large online scam centres that used trafficked workers to defraud victims globally.

Cambodia's interior ministry said it had arrested Chen and two other Chinese nationals, Xu Jiliang and Shao Jihui, and had extradited them to China "within the scope of cooperation in combating transnational crime and pursuant ‍to a request from the relevant authorities" in Beijing.

Chen was involved last month when Thailand seized assets worth more than US$300 million and issued arrest warrants for 42 people in a push against regional scam networks, though it was unclear if he was among those sought for arrest.

Authorities across Asia, from Singapore and South Korea to Hong Kong, have also seized assets ‍or detained individuals tied to the group.

Chen was indicted in October in a Brooklyn federal court on charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, according to court papers.

US prosecutors said Chen and his associates ran forced-labour camps in Cambodia where people were held against their will to carry out cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. Chen then allegedly laundered the funds through online gambling and cryptocurrency mining companies. (Reuters)