In a sweeping international crackdown that has rattled the cryptocurrency world, U.S. and U.K. authorities have seized an unprecedented sum of bitcoin—worth between $14 and $15 billion—from the Prince Group, a Cambodian conglomerate accused of masterminding a sprawling global cyber-fraud empire. The operation, described by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as the largest financial forfeiture in its history, has placed Chen Zhi, the group’s elusive founder and chairman, at the center of a scandal blending high finance, forced labor, and international intrigue.
According to BBC, the seizure—amounting to approximately 127,271 bitcoins—came as federal prosecutors in Brooklyn unsealed an indictment on October 15, 2025, charging Chen Zhi (also known as Vincent) with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Chen, a dual national of the U.K. and Cambodia, is accused of overseeing a criminal network that spanned continents, targeting millions of unsuspecting victims through sophisticated online scams and brutal forced labor operations.
The U.S. and U.K. governments moved in concert, imposing sweeping sanctions on Chen, the Prince Group, and at least 146 associated entities. The U.K. government announced it had frozen assets linked to the group, including 19 properties in London—one of which is valued at nearly £100 million ($133 million). The Prince Group, whose website touts ventures in real estate, finance, and consumer services, has been formally branded a transnational criminal organization by the U.S. Treasury Department. Four affiliated businesses—Jin Bei Group, Golden Fortune Resorts World, Byex Exchange, and Prince Group itself—are now under sanctions, with their financial activities effectively paralyzed in both the U.S. and U.K.
Prosecutors allege that Chen Zhi’s conglomerate ran at least ten scam compounds in Cambodia, where hundreds of workers—many migrants lured by bogus job advertisements—were held captive and forced to perpetrate online scams. According to CBS News, these compounds were surrounded by high walls and barbed wire, operating as prison-like forced labor camps. Workers were coerced, isolated, and sometimes subjected to violence. In one chilling instance, court documents reveal Chen allegedly authorized a beating, warning only that the victim not be “beaten to death.”
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg described the Prince Group as a “criminal enterprise built on human suffering.” The DOJ detailed how the operation used so-called “phone farms”—rooms filled with racks of mobile phones, each controlling tens of thousands of fake social media accounts—to bombard potential victims with fraudulent investment schemes. Prosecutors said the group’s internal documents even included tips for building rapport with targets, such as avoiding profile photos of women who appeared “too beautiful,” to make scam accounts seem more authentic.
The scams themselves followed the notorious “pig butchering” model, a confidence trick where criminals befriend victims online, often through fabricated romantic relationships, and gradually persuade them to invest in fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes. Once the funds were transferred, the scammers laundered the proceeds through a labyrinth of shell companies, luxury purchases, and international real estate. According to Euronews, Chen once boasted that his operation was pulling in $30 million a day. One victim reportedly lost more than $400,000 in cryptocurrency.
The ill-gotten gains funded an extravagant lifestyle for Chen and his associates—private jets, luxury travel, rare watches, and even a Picasso painting purchased from a New York City auction house. The U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the network, stating, “Together with our U.S. 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.”
The Prince Group’s reach extended far beyond Cambodia. Prosecutors allege that the scam targeted victims around the world, with local networks operating as far afield as Brooklyn, New York. The group’s vast financial infrastructure relied on bribes to public officials and political influence to evade law enforcement, according to the DOJ. Mark Taylor, a former anti-trafficking worker in Cambodia, told CBS News that Chen was “well protected” by the Cambodian government and had served as an adviser to both current Prime Minister Hun Manet and former leader Hun Sen. This proximity to power, analysts suggest, has long shielded Cambodia’s scam economy from meaningful scrutiny.
Independent research group Cyber Scam Monitor has documented more than 200 online scamming centers and casinos in Cambodia alone, based on first-hand accounts from former scam workers and field surveys. The United Nations estimates that around 100,000 people in Cambodia have been forced into online scams, with even greater numbers in neighboring Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and the Philippines. The scale of the problem is staggering—and the Prince Group, it seems, was at the heart of it.
As the investigation unfolded, the U.S. Treasury Department coordinated with U.K. counterparts to freeze assets and disrupt the group’s global operations. Fraud Minister Lord Hanson remarked, “Fraudsters prey on the most vulnerable by stealing life savings, ruining trust, and devastating lives. We will not tolerate this.” The hope is that the seized assets—if permitted by the courts—could be used to repay victims who lost fortunes to the scam. The value of the confiscated bitcoins, however, will continue to fluctuate with the volatile cryptocurrency market.
Despite the massive enforcement action, Chen Zhi remains at large. If apprehended and convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison. The Prince Group, meanwhile, has denied involvement in scam operations in the past and has yet to comment on the latest allegations. Chinese authorities have reportedly been investigating the group for cyber scams and money laundering since at least 2020, according to court records cited by researchers.
Jacob Daniel Sims, a transnational crime expert at Harvard’s Asia Center, offered a sobering perspective: “These actions won’t end the scam economy overnight. But they shrink its oxygen supply and send a rare message to regimes like Cambodia’s that elite crime as a ruling strategy is a double-edged sword.”
The Prince Group saga is a stark reminder of how technology, corruption, and unchecked power can combine to create global networks of exploitation. As authorities on both sides of the Atlantic work to dismantle the remnants of Chen’s empire, the world watches to see whether justice—and some measure of restitution for the victims—will ultimately prevail.