The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the founder and chair of Prince Holding Group, Chen Zhi, has been indicted on wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering for his part in the group’s forced-labor scam compounds across Cambodia.
Prince Group’s operations allegedly held individuals against their will to engage in cryptocurrency investment fraud scams, known as “pig butchering,” that stole billions from victims in the U.S. and around the world. Officials with the DOJ said the defendant is at large.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the DOJ’s National Security Division, a civil forfeiture complaint was filed against approximately 127,271 bitcoin worth an estimated $15 billion. The complaint alleges the amount is proceeds of the defendant’s fraud and money laundering schemes and were previously stored in unhosted cryptocurrency wallets the defendant had keys to. Those funds are in the custody of the U.S. government, officials said.
The complaint is the largest forfeiture action in the history of the DOJ.
“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 and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in a joint statement on Oct. 14. “By dismantling a criminal empire built on forced labor 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.”
The DOJ alleges that since 2015, Zhi was founder and chair of Prince Group, a conglomerate in Cambodia that operates dozens of business entities around the world. The company secretly used scam compounds across Cambodia to fund legitimate real estate, financial services and consumer services businesses.
The scam compounds would use trafficked workers forcing them to perpetrate the scams in compounds in Cambodia, often under the threat of violence. The workers would contact unwitting victims through messaging or social media applications, gain their trust and then convince them to transfer cryptocurrency to specified accounts promising that the funds would be invested and generate profits. The funds were allegedly then stolen from victims and laundered for the benefits of Zhi and his organization.
Prince Group’s schemes targeted victims around the world, the DOJ said, and with assistance from local networks. One network in Brooklyn, N.Y., allegedly facilitated the transfer and laundering of millions of dollars from over 250 victims in New York and across the U.S.
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum 40 years in prison.