Businessman extradited from Cambodia to China suspected of running vast online criminal empire

Chen Zhi boasted of pulling in $30 million a day, prosecutors in the United States said — a suspected criminal mastermind and onetime internet cafe manager who authorities say presented himself as a legitimate businessman.

But in reality, they say, he ran online gambling sites, scams and other illegal businesses from a sprawling headquarters along the Cambodian coast.

On Thursday, Chen was in custody in China, at the center of what authorities at the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said was a “major achievement” in law enforcement cooperation between them and the Cambodian government. The ministry said that Chen was in its custody and that it soon would issue arrest warrants for key players in his network.

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