DOJ seized $15 billion in bitcoin from a massive “pig butchering” fraud operation that a Chinese-born businessman orchestrated with forced-labor camps in Cambodia

Victims were lured online with pleas for financial help, fake romantic relationships or promises of lucrative crypto investments

Feds on Tuesday charged Chen “Vincent” Zhi, 37, the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group, with wire fraud, bribery, and money laundering conspiracy stretching over the past decade

Chen allegedly directed scam “phone farm” compounds in Cambodia, where trafficked workers were forced to execute an elaborate “pig butchering” scam, netting billions in illegal income

The bitcoin, totaling about 127,271 coins, was held in unhosted wallets controlled by Chen, but now in US custody

UK government moving to hit the alleged fraudster with sanctions, has frozen properties including a $16 million London mansion and a $126 million office block in the heart of London’s financial district

US Treasury has designated Prince Group “a transnational criminal organization” and announced sanctions against Chen and his associates

Chen who remains at large, could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted

Chairman of Prince Holding Group, Chen “Vincent” Zhi, [photo], on Tuesday charged with wire fraud, bribery, and money laundering conspiracy stretching over the past decade. Chen, 37, was honored with Cambodia’s ‘Leading Personality of the Year’ award at the Global Economics Awards last year

The US Justice Department has seized $15 billion in bitcoin from a massive fraud operation, known as “pig butchering”, allegedly masterminded by a Chinese-born businessman, Chen ‘Vincent’ Zhi, using forced-labor camps in Cambodia.
Prosecutors in the Federal Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, on Tuesday charged Chen, 37, the founder and chairman of Cambodia-based conglomerate Prince Holding Group, with wire fraud, bribery, and money laundering conspiracy stretching over the past decade. The billions in proceeds allegedly bankrolled a luxe life of yachts, jets, watches, art, and pricey real estate acquisitions.
Authorities allege Chen directed scam “phone farm” compounds in Cambodia, where trafficked workers were forced to execute what the DOJ called an elaborate “pig butchering” that lured victims online with pleas for financial help, fake romantic relationships or promises of lucrative crypto investments.

The DOJ says Chen used violence to enforce discipline at the scam compounds that were described as “forced labor” camps, mostly located in Cambodia and manned with trafficked persons, in compounds with high walls, barbed wire

The scam was restricted to the US, as the British government also said that it would move to hit the alleged fraudster with sanctions. Frozen property in the UK include a $16 million London mansion and a $126 million office block in the heart of London’s financial district.
Chen according to the indictment and forfeiture complaint, starting late 2014, built Prince Group, a firm purportedly set up to invest in real estate, finance, and consumer services across more than 30 countries, into one of Asia’s largest criminal organizations.
The modus of Chen’s operations relies on building trust with victims online before convincing them to transfer crypto funds that were then stolen and laundered, the DOJ claimed. At one point his company was raking in as much as $30 million a day, according to court documents.
One Brooklyn-based network on it’s own laundered millions from over 250 US victims for Prince Group.
Hidden operations included scam compounds with high walls, barbed wire, and forced labor, where workers ran the mega-billion-dollar fraud under threat of violence, the DOJ said.

Chen ran so called “phone farms”, which means automated call centers used to facilitate cryptocurrency investment fraud and other cybercrimes

Chen allegedly managed the compounds, tracking profits and schemes, and possessed images of beatings and torture. He spoke to his associates about punishing those who “caused trouble” but stressed that laborers should “not be beaten to death.”
Scammers often contacted victims via messaging apps or social media, promising investment returns, the indictment alleged.
The bitcoin, totaling about 127,271 coins, currently worth approximately $15 billion, was held in unhosted wallets controlled by Chen, but now in US custody.
The alleged fraudster who remains at large, could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

Chen allegedly managed the compounds, tracking profits and schemes, and possessed images of beatings and torture. Associates were told to punish those who “caused trouble”, but laborers Chen stressed, should “not be beaten to death

Law enforcement parade a group of workers arrested after a raid on a Prince Holdings scam compound. One of the group’s evasion methods officials said, is that Prince executives “bribed public officials for information in advance” on possible raids of its scam compounds

A Prince associate was also involved “in procuring millions of mobile telephone numbers and account passwords from an illicit online marketplace,” according to the DOJ.
Chen and executives allegedly bribed foreign officials and used political influence to shield operations, laundered money via gambling and mining businesses, according to the indictment, and boasted of “no cost” profits from stolen funds.
The announcement came as the Treasury designated Prince Group as “a transnational criminal organization and announced sanctions against Chen and his associates.

According to Joseph Nocella, Jr., [photo], United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Chen is behind “one of the largest investment fraud operations in history”

“As alleged, the defendant directed one of the largest investment fraud operations in history, fueling an illicit industry that is reaching epidemic proportions,” said Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.”
The fraudster “forced thousands to serve as trapped accomplices and targeting countless others for their wallets,” said Christopher G. Raia, the FBI assistant director in charge of the probe.
“By leveraging his co-conspirators and political influence, this alleged operation plagued all corners of the globe and evaded law enforcement detection for years.”