U.S. authorities dropped a authorized hammer on world agency Prince Group as an operator of forced-labor world rip-off operations — together with notorious pig butchering schemes — primarily based in Cambodia, indicting the corporate’s chief and imposing sanctions.
UK and Cambodian nationwide Chen Zhi, the founder and chairman of Prince Group, was indicted in New York on Tuesday for allegedly conspiring to launder cash and committee wire fraud, in line with the Division of Justice. In that case, the DOJ took what it stated was its largest-ever crypto seizure of 127,271 bitcoin , value about $14.4 billion at present worth.
“As we speak’s motion represents some of the vital strikes ever in opposition to the worldwide scourge of human trafficking and cyber-enabled monetary fraud,” stated U.S. Lawyer Basic Pamela Bondi, in a press release.
And in a coordinated effort, the U.S. Division of the Treasury stated it sanctioned Prince Group on Tuesday, designating it a transnational felony group and blocking its monetary exercise and the flexibility for folks to do enterprise with it with out U.S. repercussions.
In response to a DOJ assertion, the defendant and his executives secretly “grew Prince Group into one among Asia’s largest transnational felony organizations.” One of many main cash mills, in line with the U.S. authorities, was so-called “pig butchering” wherein folks — largely within the U.S. — are scammed for crypto belongings they usually consider are going towards distant romantic companions. “Prince Group carried out these schemes by trafficking lots of of employees and forcing them to work in compounds in Cambodia and execute the scams, usually below the specter of violence,” the assertion stated, describing barbed-wired compounds, political affect and complicated crypto laundering efforts.
The CEO, who’s at massive, and people accused as co-conspirators are stated to have used proceeds on lavish life, together with in a single case the acquisition of a Picasso portray.
On the identical day, the Treasury finalized a rule to completely sever Cambodian conglomerate Huione Group from the U.S. monetary system — essentially the most potent motion within the U.S. worldwide monetary arsenal. It stated Phnom Penh-based Huione had been laundering proceeds of crypto scams.
“The speedy rise of transnational fraud has price Americans billions of {dollars}, with life financial savings worn out in minutes,” stated Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, in a press release.
The Treasury Division has steadily been circling Cambodian felony enterprises, focusing on people allegedly linked with the huge array of illicit actions there. These crypto-funded operations have lengthy been a spotlight of digital belongings analytics corporations, investigators and even congressional inquiry.
Although the system hasn’t but been established within the U.S., the Treasury Division has been attempting to implement President Donald Trump’s order to arrange a bitcoin reserve. That “strategic” reserve is supposed because the vacation spot of any bitcoin seized by the U.S. authorities, suggesting a possible remaining cease for the billions in belongings taken on this case.
The precise belongings seized within the Value Group case originated as belongings stated to be stolen from LuBian, a bitcoin mining operation understanding of China and Iran and managed by Prince’s Chen, in line with an evaluation from Elliptic. As soon as stated to be the sixth-largest crypto mining operation on the earth, LuBian shut down shortly after the belongings had been stated to go lacking in 2020.
“It stays unclear how the bitcoins got here to be in US custody,” Elliptic stated in its report on Tuesday. “It’s additionally unclear who ‘stole’ the bitcoins from Chen/LuBian or whether or not a theft actually passed off.”
Learn Extra: U.S. Authorities Begins to Sever Cambodia’s Huione Group from Monetary System
UPDATE (October 14, 2025, 21:02 UTC): Provides Elliptic evaluation of origin of seized bitcoin.