A fugitive businessman accused of running a massive cyberfraud and human trafficking enterprise in the Philippines reportedly holds 2 million euros in Cyprus, despite facing multiple criminal charges abroad. The OCCRP–Ciren (Cyprus Investigative Reporting Network)–Rappler probe shed new light on how he obtained Cypriot citizenship and used it to facilitate alleged illegal operations.

According to Ciren’s investigation, Huang Zhiyang is believed to be the boss of a criminal network in the Philippines involved in human trafficking, online romance scams, and cryptocurrency fraud. Although Philippine authorities have frozen at least five of Huang’s bank accounts, Ciren reporters discovered that Huang still holds 2 million euros (about USD 2.1 million) in Cyprus.

Huang acquired a Cypriot passport through the country’s now-infamous citizenship by investment program, investing in a local real estate firm called Zimaco Holdings Limited. Zimaco, which builds student accommodation for the University of Nicosia, confirmed it still holds Huang’s funds. The company has notified Cyprus’s Financial Intelligence Unit (also known as MOKAS) of the charges against him in the Philippines but said that no restrictions have been placed on the money. MOKAS declined to comment on whether any action had been taken.

The allegations against Huang center on his role as the co-founder of various companies in the Philippines, including Baofu Land Development Inc., which prosecutors call the “mother corporation” behind the alleged scam centers. Huang was charged with human trafficking and sued for money laundering by the Philippine government in mid-2024, following a raid on Baofu’s sprawling compound in Bamban, about 95 kilometers north of Manila. Authorities rescued 875 people, including Philippine, Chinese, and other nationals who said they were forced to defraud victims through scripted online “love scams.”

Previous raids had taken place at two of Huang’s other ventures — Sun Valley Clark Hub Corporation and Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc. — where officers rescued more than 1,800 suspected trafficking victims combined. Although Huang was named in at least one search warrant, no charges were filed against him from those earlier operations. Intelligence reports suggest he escaped one raid by helicopter.

In addition to the new human trafficking charges, Huang faces a lawsuit for money laundering from the Philippine Anti Money Laundering Council, which has identified him as the “principal financier” behind Baofu’s real-estate acquisitions and alleged scam operations. The Department of Justice in Manila describes Baofu as the entity that “oversaw the establishment and operations of scam centers” found within its compound.

Despite the frozen bank accounts in the Philippines, authorities in Manila only recently learned about Huang’s 2 million euros in Cyprus, after reporters informed them. A senior official at the Department of Justice, Nicholas Ty, said his department’s priority is securing Huang’s arrest — potentially via an Interpol red notice — rather than seizing funds located overseas. However, the Philippines’ Senate is reportedly considering adding the Cyprus revelations to an upcoming committee report on online gambling and scams, possibly recommending a freeze of Huang’s money.

On the Cyprus side, MOKAS stated that it can seek a court order to freeze assets upon receipt of a formal request from a foreign government investigating criminal offenses. But for now, there is no indication that Philippine authorities have submitted such a request.

Zimaco Holdings, the Cypriot real estate company where Huang invested, said it attempted to refund half of his deposit, but Huang failed to provide the paperwork necessary for repayment. Meanwhile, the company that facilitated Huang’s original citizenship application, Delsk (Cyprus) Business Services Ltd., is itself facing “influence trading” charges in an unrelated corruption case over Cyprus’s “golden passport” program.

That separate case also includes Cyprus’ former transport minister, Marios Demetriades, accused of improperly influencing citizenship applications. Demetriades denies wrongdoing, calling the accusations “false” and “malicious.” Josef Friedrich Santin, an Austrian national and president of Delsk’s Beijing-based parent company, is also charged. Santin, who once served as a director at Zimaco, has dismissed the charges as “ridiculous.”

Huang, known in some circles as “Boss Wang,” is reportedly also wanted in China for allegedly operating illegal gambling houses. He holds multiple passports from China, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Cyprus. His current whereabouts are unknown, and his lawyer in the Philippines did not respond to requests for comment.

Philippine and international law enforcement agencies continue to search for Huang, as victims detail harrowing accounts of coercion, beatings, and torture when they fail to meet scam quotas. Ciren reports that the fate of Huang’s Cypriot-held assets remains unclear, pending any formal government request to freeze the funds or confiscate them as part of broader legal proceedings.

Read the full report.