An unprecedented $15 billion worth of Bitcoin has been confiscated by United States federal law enforcement officials, funds that are alleged to be the unlawful gains of a criminal enterprise based in Cambodia which coerced trafficked individuals into managing sophisticated digital currency “pig butchering” frauds targeting victims on a worldwide scale.
US DOJ Announces $15B Bitcoin Seizure Linked to Prince Group Chairman and Forced-Labor Scheme
The largest forfeiture action in its history was formally announced by the US Department of Justice on October 14, with the confiscation of approximately 127,271 units of Bitcoin, currently valued at about $15 billion, from unhosted digital wallets that are linked to Chen Zhi, a citizen of the UK and Cambodia.
A formal legal accusation was unsealed by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, implicating the Chairman of Prince Group with directing a transnational criminal organization that managed forced-labor facilities in Cambodia.
It is contended by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that these compounds served as the driving force for “pig butchering” frauds on an industrial scale that defrauded victims globally, with a single cell located in Brooklyn being responsible for transferring millions from more than 250 individuals within the United States. Chen Zhi presently remains unapprehended.
A Closer Look at the Prince Group Empire
In accordance with the unsealed charges, the Prince Group was established by Chen Zhi around 2015, during which a public perception of him as the chairman of a reputable multinational holding company was cultivated. The organization’s asset mix ostensibly encompassed property development, financial provisions, and consumer utilities, with operations that were extended across more than thirty territories.
Federal prosecutors allege that this expansive corporate infrastructure constituted scarcely more than an intricate facade. Behind the surface of reputable commerce, Zhi and his highest-ranking officials are accused of having transformed the collective into one of Asia’s most potent transnational criminal syndicates, with its worldwide reach being utilized to orchestrate a ruthless deception operation.
The clandestine criminal activities were purportedly directed from the highest management levels. Court records assert that Zhi was personally engaged in the administration of the fraudulent sites, with meticulous ledgers being maintained by him that monitored the financial gains and the specific deceptive operations that were executed from individual quarters.
He is also charged with supervising “phone farms,” which are automated communication hubs situated within the complexes that utilized thousands of handsets and millions of telephone identifiers to target victims on a worldwide basis. The indictment further asserts that Zhi engaged in direct communication with his subordinates concerning the application of physical force against trafficked laborers, issuing directions to assault individuals who “caused disruption” but simultaneously advising that they should not be “fatally injured.”
It is alleged by prosecutorial authorities that individuals, who were detained against their will in facilities described as carceral encampments encircled by elevated barriers and razor wire, were compelled to initiate contact with prospective victims through instant messaging and social media applications. Posing as reliable acquaintances, relationships were cultivated by them over an extended duration before the discussions were subtly guided towards deceptive digital currency investment opportunities.
Victims were subsequently coaxed into transferring digital currency to designated accounts under guarantees of considerable returns, only for their assets to be pilfered and concealed for the sole benefit of the criminal organization. This “pig butchering” method, which was driven by forced labor, generated billions in unlawful financial gains for the syndicate.
Uncovering the Laundering of the Empire’s Crypto Gains
To obscure the vast volume of unlawful financial movements, sophisticated digital currency concealment methods were employed by associates of Prince Group, following Zhi’s explicit instructions. Prosecutors have provided specific details on the utilization of “spraying” and “funneling,” a protocol in which substantial amounts of cryptocurrency were repeatedly disaggregated across dozens of digital storage locations and subsequently re-consolidated in an effort to obliterate the transaction audit trail.
A portion of the illegal financial gains was ultimately retained in digital wallets across various crypto exchanges or was converted into traditional government-issued currency. The majority of the confiscated assets, however, encompassing 127,271 Bitcoin, was held in self-custody wallets, with personal command over the private encryption keys being maintained by Zhi himself.
The unlawful revenues were purportedly utilized by Zhi and his affiliates to underwrite a lifestyle of astonishing extravagance, with lavish acquisitions including expensive timepieces, luxury watercraft, personal aircraft, and leisure residences being made by them.
Most notably, Zhi is implicated in utilizing pilfered capital to acquire a masterpiece by Picasso through a prestigious Manhattan auction house, an action by which the financial gains derived from human misery were embedded within the world’s most exclusive luxury markets was achieved.
