Federal authorities said they seized 127,271 Bitcoin, valued at approximately $15 billion, from Chen Zhi, the alleged leader of a cybercrime network based in Cambodia, calling it the largest financial seizure on record. The Justice Department said the assets were seized as part of an investigation into transnational fraud and forced labor associated with the Prince Group, and linked the seizure to a public announcement by prosecutors and investigators.
An indictment against Chen was unsealed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the Justice Department said. The 38-year-old, identified as a United Kingdom and Cambodian national who renounced Chinese citizenship, faces charges that carry up to 40 years in prison if convicted; he remains at large and the FBI is seeking information about his whereabouts, officials said. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said the action was among the most significant strikes against human trafficking and cyber-enabled fraud.
U.S. authorities described Chen as the founder and manager of Prince Group, which they say built a widespread network of scam compounds in Phnom Penh that relied on human trafficking and forced labor. Officials said the group expanded globally since about 2015 into dozens of entities across more than 30 countries and pointed to a document describing the operation as a broader business empire. The indictment alleges Prince Group managers committed violence in forced-labor camps and targeted victims worldwide, including schemes that defrauded more than 250 people in a Brooklyn-based network out of millions of dollars.
The U.S. and U.K. imposed coordinated sanctions on people and organizations tied to the Prince Group, which Treasury officials described as one of the most extensive actions against regional cybercrime operations to date. The U.S. Treasury said it took action to cut the group off from parts of the international financial system and published a notice describing the measures.
U.S. agencies said the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on 146 people and organizations associated with the transnational criminal organization and identified 117 illegitimate businesses tied to the network. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a rule under the USA PATRIOT Act intended to sever Cambodia-based Huione Group from the U.S. financial system. The Treasury published a complete list of people and entities sanctioned as part of the coordinated action, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted the financial losses linked to transnational fraud.
Authorities also alleged Huione Group laundered proceeds from cyberattacks and Southeast Asia-based investment scams, saying it moved more than $4 billion in illicit proceeds between August 2021 and January 2025. FBI Director Kash Patel called the operation one of the largest financial fraud takedowns in history. U.S. government officials estimated Americans lost more than $10 billion to Southeast Asia-based scams last year and said U.S. online investment scams surpass $16.6 billion; officials did not provide additional operational details beyond the public filings cited in the announcements.