The funds are tied to Chen Zhi, who the DoJ also hit with wire fraud and money laundering charges.
The US government’s Bitcoin stash just got a whole lot bigger.
On Tuesday, US authorities, including the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, filed a civil forfeiture complaint for 127,271 Bitcoin, currently worth approximately $15 billion, the largest forfeiture action in the department’s history.
The funds are tied to Chen Zhi, also known as “Vincent,” the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group, a multinational business conglomerate based in Cambodia.
The DoJ also charged Zhi with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy for directing Prince Group’s operation of forced-labour scam compounds across Cambodia.
“Individuals held against their will in the compounds engaged in cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes, known as ‘pig butchering’ scams, that stole billions of dollars from victims in the United States and around the world,” the department said in a press release.
Pig butchering is a type of long-con scam that targets users seeking romantic relationships.
The DoJ said the $15 billion in Bitcoin is in the custody of the US government while Zhi remains at large.
Zhi is a 38-year-old Chinese émigré who has since renounced his Chinese citizenship.
Since approximately 2015, he has been the founder and chairman of Prince Group, which operates dozens of businesses in more than 30 countries.
On the surface, Price Group is focused on real estate development and financial services. However, in secret, the firm, guided by Zhi and other executives, grew the company into one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organisations.
The group lured and trafficked thousands of victims to compounds, often by offering them well-paid jobs in IT and administration.
When victims arrive, they are imprisoned and forced to work on pig butchering scams, often with the excuse that they must pay off phoney debts.
The funds stolen through these scams are then laundered through a complex network of over 100 shell and holding companies worldwide, according to a press release from the US Treasury Department.
The term pig butchering originates in China and reflects the scammer’s approach of “fattening up” victims by building trust and emotional connection over time, much like feeding a pig before slaughter.
Scammers gain their victims’ trust over a period of months before introducing them to a seemingly third-party crypto investment site, which the scammers also run. They then encourage victims to put money into the scam sites, draining targets of their savings.
Human rights activists have long raised the alarm over the forced-labour camps in Cambodia and Southeast Asia, where much of the pig butchering scam activity originates.
In June, an Amnesty International report identified at least 53 compounds used for scamming in Cambodia.
Victims interviewed by the human rights organisation reported slavery, human trafficking, child labour, and torture being carried out by criminal gangs running the compounds on a vast scale.
Last year, pig butchering scammers stole over $4 billion from victims, according to Chainalysis, a blockchain security firm, a 40% increase from 2023.
