The United States on Tuesday announced that it is seeking the forfeiture of 127,271 Bitcoin, currently worth over $14.2 billion, in the largest such forfeiture action in the history of the Department of Justice.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Department's National Security Division filed the civil forfeiture complaint against Chen Zhi, the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group, a multinational business conglomerate based in Cambodia.
The DOJ already has the Bitcoin in custody. Feds alleged on Tuesday that Zhi ran a "pig butchering" scam that stole billions of dollars from victims in the United States and around the world.
According to the indictment, people were trafficked to compounds that operated like "labor camps," and were forced to operate the scams under the threat of violence.
"Pig butchering" scams—which originate from China—con people into handing over money after gaining their trust, usually with fake social media profiles and sob stories. They are named as such because scammers liken the process to that of fattening up a pig before it is slaughtered.
"As alleged, the defendant directed one of the largest investment fraud operations in history, fueling an illicit industry that is reaching epidemic proportions," United States Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.
"Prince Group's investment scams have caused billions of dollars in losses and untold misery to victims around the world, including here in New York, on the backs of individuals who have been trafficked and forced to work against their will,” he added.
If convicted, Zhi faces a maximum sentence of 40 years' imprisonment for the charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, the DOJ said. He is still at large.
The indictment alleged that Zhi, a citizen of China, Cambodia, Vanuatu, St. Lucia, and Cyprus, bribed Chinese cops to get away with running the scam.
Money stolen from victims was used to buy Bitcoin and other "clean" cryptocurrencies, the indictment alleged.
Stolen funds were also used to fund crypto mining operations in Laos, China, and Texas, according to the indictment. At one point, feds alleged, one of Zhi's China-based mining operations was the sixth-biggest Bitcoin mining operation in the world.
Research earlier this year showed that criminals from Mexico to Russia used the Chinese black market to launder their billions in crypto.
Ari Redbord, global head of policy at TRM Labs, told Decrypt that despite the operation being based in Cambodia, there was "absolutely a China dimension" to it.
"Many of these networks operate in the shadows of Chinese business interests and rely on Chinese-linked financial infrastructure and shell entities to launder proceeds," he said.
“By combining criminal indictments, sanctions, 311 actions, and asset forfeiture, the U.S. and its allies are doing more than naming bad actors—they’re systematically dismantling the financial and logistical scaffolding that sustains them,” Redbord added. “This isn’t a one-off. It’s part of a broader campaign to collapse the entire ecosystem—from the front-end scam operators to the exchanges, money transmitters, and facilitators that move funds globally.”
Additional reporting by Sander Lutz
Editor's note: This story was updated after publication with additional details.