US seizes $15 billion crypto from Cambodia fraud ring
Authorities charged businessman Chen Zhi with laundering billions through fake crypto investments.
US federal prosecutors have seized $15 billion in cryptocurrency tied to a large-scale ‘pig butchering’ investment scam linked to forced labour compounds in Cambodia. Officials said it marks the biggest crypto forfeiture in Justice Department history.
Authorities charged Chinese-born businessman Chen Zhi, founder of the Prince Group, with money laundering and wire fraud. Chen allegedly used the conglomerate as cover for criminal operations that laundered billions through fake crypto investments. He remains at large.
Investigators say Chen and his associates operated at least ten forced labour sites in Cambodia where victims, many coerced workers, managed thousands of fake social media accounts to lure targets into fraudulent investment schemes.
The US Treasury also imposed sanctions on dozens of Prince Group affiliates, calling them transnational criminal organisations. FBI officials said the scam is part of a wider wave of crypto fraud across Southeast Asia, urging anyone targeted by online investment offers to contact authorities immediately.
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