Singapore former superyacht captain arrested for links to online 'pig-butchering' scam ring in Cambodia

A Singaporean was arrested for his alleged involvement in a Cambodian scam syndicate on Dec 11.

The police on Thursday (Dec 18) confirmed to Bloomberg News that Nigel Tang Wan Bao Nabil, 32, was taken into custody. The publication added that Tang is currently out on bail.

Tang is one of three Singaporeans sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control in October 2025 in relation to Chinese-born Cambodian national Chen Zhi, an alleged crime kingpin who is the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group.

Tang was the captain of Chen's superyacht Nonni II. According to Bloomberg, he is also director and head of operations at Warpcapital Yacht Management, a Singapore-registered company, and operations head at Capital Zone Warehousing, which is accused of being Chen-controlled Singapore company running a tax-exempt warehouse for imported alcohol and tobacco.

Chen, 38, has been indicted by US authorities of running a 'pig-butchering scam' online with compounds of trafficked workers. He has been accused of defrauding victims from the US and abroad, and laundering illicit sums in the billions.

The 'pig-butchering' moniker comes from the analogy of fattening the animals before slaughtering them, likened to a scammer gaining the victim's trust before defrauding them.

Assets seized and frozen

Back in October, Singapore seized and issued prohibition orders against six properties and various financial assets linked to Prince Holding Group, including bank accounts, securities accounts and cash, with a total estimated value of more than $150 million.

This also included a yacht and 11 cars.

Bloomberg reported that four companies owned by Chen have since applied to the court for a limited release of funds to pay for the wages of their former employees and legal cost.

The court application was spearheaded by Karen Chen Xiuling, another US-sanctioned Singaporean linked to Chen, who previously resigned from a Singapore-listed firm after being placed on the list.

Thailand also seized assets linked to Chen worth more than US$300 million (S$388 million) and issued arrest warrants against 42 individuals.

drimac@asiaone.com