U.S. seizes record $15 billion in Bitcoin linked to human trafficking and fraud network

The U.S. government has filed its largest-ever cryptocurrency forfeiture case and unsealed criminal charges against a Cambodian business magnate accused of running one of the world’s largest human trafficking and cyber-fraud networks, according to federal officials.

Chen Zhi, also known as “Vincent,” the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group, was charged in Brooklyn federal court with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of New York on Tuesday.

Prosecutors allege that Chen directed a vast criminal enterprise that operated forced-labor compounds across Cambodia, where trafficked workers were forced to carry out cryptocurrency scams that defrauded victims around the world. Chen remains at large.

“Today’s action represents one of the most significant strikes ever against the global scourge of human trafficking and cyber-enabled financial fraud,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said.

According to the Justice Department, workers held inside the compounds were confined behind high walls and barbed wire, subjected to violence, and forced to participate in “pig butchering” scams, long-term online investment fraud schemes that stole billions of dollars from victims, including many in the United States.

The network’s reach extended into the U.S., including a cell operating in Brooklyn that helped launder money from over 250 victims.

The U.S. also moved to seize roughly 127,000 bitcoin, valued at about $15 billion, that investigators say were proceeds of the schemes.

Officials said the cryptocurrency was held in wallets controlled by Chen and is now in U.S. government custody, marking the largest forfeiture action in Justice Department history.

Investigators said Chen and his associates used political influence and bribery to shield their operations from law enforcement, while laundering billions through cryptocurrency, gambling, and real estate ventures.

They allegedly spent profits on luxury goods, including private jets, yachts, and fine art, among them a Picasso painting purchased through a New York auction house.

The Department of the Treasury designated Prince Group a transnational criminal organization and imposed sanctions on Chen and several associates. The United Kingdom also announced sanctions against the same network.

If convicted, Chen faces up to 40 years in prison.