Federal law enforcement seized $15 billion worth of bitcoin in the largest crypto seizure in Department of Justice (DOJ) history. The bitcoin was held in wallets by Chen Zhi, chairman of the Prince Group, an organization that prosecutors say grew “in secret …. into one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organizations.”

According to court documents, Prince Group operated at least ten forced-labor camps across Cambodia. Individuals held against their will were forced to engage in cryptocurrency investment schemes known as ‘pig butchering.” That’s when scammers nurture a relationship with a victim to gain trust and then manipulate the victim to invest in a fraudulent cryptocurrency platform. Billions were stolen from victims around the world with the illegal proceeds laundered.  

“The FBI and partners executed one of the largest financial fraud takedowns in history,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. 

“Trafficked workers were confined in prison-like compounds and forced to carry out online scams on an industrial scale, preying on thousands worldwide, including many here in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “This indictment and historic forfeiture, the largest in Department history, reflect our commitment to using every tool at our disposal to ensure such crimes do not pay.”

Scheme Details

Prince Group was founded around 2015, ostensibly as a real estate, financial services, and consumer services company. However, prosecutors say the defendant and top executives grew it into a transnational criminal organization, making “enormous profits operating scam compounds.”  

The schemes were carried out by the trafficking of hundreds of workers, who were hosted in dormitories surrounded by barbed wire that functioned as “violent forced labor camps.”

Court documents show that Zhi was “directly involved” in using violence against the individuals in the forced labor camps, and meticulously tracked profits and data from the automated call centers used to call scam victims. 

 Zhi remains at large. He is charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.

The FBI’s New York Joint Asian Criminal Enterprise Task Force and the FBI’s Virtual Asset Unit are leading the investigation.

The Treasury Department, in parallel action, designated Prince Group as a transnational criminal organization and announced sanctions against  Zhi and more than 100 associated individuals and entities.