Federal prosecutors have seized 127,271 bitcoin worth approximately $15 billion from a massive cryptocurrency fraud scheme operated from forced labor camps in Cambodia. The operation, led by Chinese national Chen Zhi, involved human trafficking and investment scams targeting victims worldwide. Chen faces charges of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy, marking the largest forfeiture action in US history.
On October 14, 2025, US authorities unsealed an indictment in Brooklyn federal court charging Chen Zhi, also known as Vincent, a 38-year-old founder of the Cambodia-based Prince Holding Group, with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. Chen remains at large. Prosecutors allege he directed a transnational criminal organization that operated at least 10 forced labor compounds across Cambodia since 2015, blending crypto investment fraud with human trafficking.
Workers, often migrants lured by fake job ads, were held captive in facilities like the Jinbei Casino Hotel and Golden Fortune Science and Technology Park. These sites functioned as phone farms with up to 1,250 mobile phones controlling 76,000 fake social media accounts. Instructions directed scammers to use profile photos of women who were not 'too beautiful' to build rapport with victims via messaging apps, feigning romance or emergencies before luring them into fake cryptocurrency investments. Once funds were transferred, scammers showed fabricated profits to encourage more deposits, then vanished.
The scheme, known as 'pig butchering' or 'sha zhu,' generated up to $30 million daily at its 2018 peak, according to court records. Chen allegedly sanctioned violence to discipline workers, with evidence including photos of beatings leaving workers with bloody gashes and lash marks. He approved at least one beating but cautioned against killing the victim. Proceeds funded luxuries like yachts, private jets, a Picasso painting, and bribes, including a $3 million yacht for a foreign official in 2019.
The US Treasury designated Prince Holding Group a transnational criminal organization, imposing sanctions on Chen and 146 affiliates alongside the UK. FinCEN isolated the related Huione Group from the US financial system under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. The seized bitcoin, now in US custody, could fund the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve per a Trump executive order or repay victims if approved by courts.
Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg described Chen as the 'mastermind behind a sprawling cyberfraud empire.' US Attorney Joseph Nocella called it 'one of the largest investment fraud operations in history.' FBI Assistant Director Christopher Raia noted the focus on major cases to 'cut off the head of the snake,' amid rising scams costing Americans at least $10 billion last year, a 66% increase from 2023. The UN estimates 100,000 people forced into such scams in Cambodia alone.