The U.S. Office of Public Affairs has revealed that it has seized more than US$14 billion (A$21.6 billion) in Bitcoin and charged an executive of Southeast Asia’s Prince Group over an alleged massive crypto scam.
The executive, Chen Zhi, is a Chinese-born Cambodian national and is the founder and chairman of the Prince Holding Group, a multinational business conglomerate based in Cambodia.
In the Indictment unsealed in a federal court in New York, the U.S. government states that Zhi and unnamed co-conspirators have been running extensive scams and swindling would-be investors out of billions of dollars.
Prosecutors say that at one point, Mr Chen bragged that his “pig-butchering” scams were pulling in A$46m a day. The accused would then spend the proceeds on luxury travel and extravagant purchases such as Rolex watches, vacation homes, private jets, and rare artwork that even includes a Picasso painting.
According to Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “This indictment and historic forfeiture is the largest in department history.”
Claims of Forced Labour and Torture in Scam Centres
According to the indictment, Prince Group carried out its scam activities by trafficking workers and forcing them to execute their commands at the threat of violence.
It’s alleged that Zhi and his accomplices have been running multiple scam centres in compounds that housed huge dormitories surrounded by high walls and barbed wire.
Mostly foreign workers were trafficked into these centres under the promise of well-paying jobs, but they were then made part of the forced labour. Zhi was actively involved in managing the compounds, and he is said to have directly used violence against the people held in the labour camps.
He also possessed detailed information on the working of these compounds and maintained records for each. These included ledgers tracking profits, details of the scams in each compound, and descriptions of his “phone farms”.
The phone farms are automated call centres consisting of thousands of smartphones and millions of phone numbers, used to carry out various fraudulent schemes.
U.S. authorities also retrieved photographs that depict the beatings and various methods of torture used by Mr Chen and his associates. At one point, he is said to have given orders to beat individuals who “caused trouble”, specifying that the victims should not be “beaten to death”.
Prince Group as the Umbrella
U.S. officials say the multinational conglomerate Prince Holding is the company that was being used as a front for what they call one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organisations.
Prince Group is ostensibly involved in industries such as real estate development, consumer services, and financial services (which include a Cambodian bank, Prince Bank). However, it’s accused of being the company that operates Chen Zhi’s scam centres all over Cambodia. It’s said to have made enormous profits from the crime and funnelled the funds to other businesses and shell companies it owns.
According to the U.K. Foreign Office, Mr Chen and his accomplices have allegedly incorporated various businesses in the British Virgin Islands and used them to purchase property in the U.K. The office stated that it has seized property belonging to Chen Zhi and his associates, including a £12 million mansion, a £100 million office building, and seventeen flats.
Commenting on the issue, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said, “The masterminds behind these horrific scam centres are ruining the lives of vulnerable people and buying up London homes to store their money.”
“Together with our US allies, we are taking decisive action to combat the growing transnational threat posed by this network – upholding human rights, protecting British nationals and keeping dirty money off our streets.”
Alongside Prince Group, the U.K. also sanctioned Jin Bei Group, Golden Fortune Resorts World Ltd., and Byex Exchange. These three are said to be closely tied to Prince Group, and they’ve all been locked out of the U.K. financial system.
In the U.S., Prince Group has also been sanctioned and labelled as a criminal organisation.
Action Spurred by Significant Losses to Online Scams
According to the U.S. Treasury, the joint U.S. and U.K. action on the Prince Group has been motivated by the significant amounts Americans continue to lose to online scams.
Over the last several years, the losses have been increasing, totalling over A$16.6 billion in 2024. A US government estimate states that at least A$10 billion of this amount has been lost to Southeast Asia-based scam operations, and the figure had grown by 66% from 2023. Prince Group is said to be responsible for a significant portion of this, as it is one of the most dominant criminal organisations in the region.
To carry out the crimes, U.S. authorities state that Prince Group has been contacting unwitting victims through messaging or social media. The scammers would then establish relationships with victims and convince them to transfer crypto to specific accounts on the promise that the funds would be invested and generate enticing profits.
Crypto Laundering
To maintain a strong criminal presence, Mr Chan Zhi is said to have used political connections and bribes to disrupt law enforcement in multiple foreign countries. He would then launder the proceeds of his criminal activities through various professional money laundering services, including Prince Group’s own network of businesses that have been posing as legitimate businesses.
Prince Group and its multiple businesses would also launder their money through various cryptocurrency techniques, including “spraying” and “funnelling”, to hide the sources of their “profits”. The proceeds would then be held in different wallets at crypto exchanges and even exchanged for fiat currency in traditional bank accounts. The $15 billion seized by the U.S. is in Bitcoin and was stored in unhosted crypto wallets, with their private keys held by Zhi.
“Today’s action represents one of the most significant strikes ever against the global scourge of human trafficking and cyber-enabled financial fraud,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in a statement.
“By dismantling a criminal empire based on forced labour and deception, we are sending a clear message that the United States will use every tool at its disposal to defend victims, recover stolen assets, and bring to justice those who exploit the vulnerable for profit.”
Chen, who is also known as “Vincent”, is currently at large. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison.
