Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn unsealed an indictment Tuesday charging Chen Zhi, the chairman of Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group, with running a massive forced-labor and cryptocurrency fraud operation that stole billions from victims around the world.
Chen, 37, a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Cambodia also known as Vincent, is accused of directing scam compounds where trafficked workers were forced to run so-called “pig butchering” investment schemes, according to the Justice Department. He remains at large.
At the same time, prosecutors filed what they called the largest forfeiture action in Justice Department history — targeting roughly 127,000 Bitcoin, worth about $15 billion, currently held in U.S. custody.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi said the case “represents one of the most significant strikes ever against the global scourge of human trafficking and cyber-enabled financial fraud.” She added 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.”
FBI Director Kash Patel described the case as “one of the largest financial fraud takedowns in history,” saying Chen “allegedly operated a vast criminal network” that spanned multiple continents and “targeted millions of innocent victims.”
Court filings claim that since 2015, Chen turned the Prince Group into one of Asia’s largest criminal organizations while appearing to run a legitimate real estate and finance conglomerate. Prosecutors said trafficked workers were held inside compounds with barbed wire and high walls, forced to defraud victims online under threat of violence.
According to the indictment, Chen was directly involved in managing the operations and possessed images showing beatings and torture. In one message, he allegedly told subordinates not to let victims be “beaten to death.”
The Justice Department said the group laundered the stolen cryptocurrency through gambling and mining operations and used complex “spraying” and “funneling” techniques to hide its source. Prosecutors claim Chen used the proceeds to buy yachts, private jets, homes, and a Picasso painting from a New York auction house.
The Treasury Department also labeled Prince Group a transnational criminal organization and issued sanctions against Chen and several associates. The United Kingdom imposed parallel measures.
If convicted, Chen faces up to 40 years in prison. The FBI urged anyone with information about Chen or Prince Group to email PrinceGroupTips@fbi.gov.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, cryptocurrency investment fraud caused more than $5.8 billion in reported losses in 2024 alone.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.