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The U.S. government has seized $15 billion in bitcoin from a Cambodian business conglomerate charged with running a global cryptocurrency scam.
Federal prosecutors claim Chen Zhi, the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group, oversaw a vast criminal network in Cambodia built on forced labor that extracted billions from victims in the U.S. and around the world.
The indictment, which was unsealed in a federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday, charges the 37-year-old Cambodian national with wire fraud and money laundering.
"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," Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.
The complaint is the largest forfeiture action in the history of the Department of Justice, according to the agency.
"Today the FBI and partners executed one of the largest financial fraud takedowns in history," FBI Director Kash Patel said in the same statement. "This is an individual who allegedly operated a vast criminal network across multiple continents involving forced labor, money laundering, investment schemes, and stolen assets — targeting millions of innocent victims in the process."
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced Tuesday that it has coordinated with UK officials to impose sweeping sanctions against 146 entities associated with the Prince Group, which has been formally designated a transnational criminal organization by the department.
Prince Holding Group's website lists it as one of the largest conglomerates in Cambodia, with businesses focused on real estate development, banking, finance and consumer service. The company did not immediately respond to CBS News' request for comment.
Prince Holding Group has previously denied involvement in scam operations and has not publicly responded to the latest allegations.
The U.S. classified the cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes employed by Chen as what's known as "pig butchering" scams, which is when scammers gain the trust of a victim and then dupe them into fraudulent investment opportunities designed to exploit the victim financially.
The Justice Department alleges that the criminal network convinced victims over social media and messaging apps to transfer cryptocurrency based on the false promises that it would be invested. The scammers then stole the funds, laundered them and used the proceeds for luxury travel, entertainment and other extravagant purchases, the DOJ said.
Federal prosecutors said Prince Group targeted victims around the world with assistance from local networks, including one operated from Brooklyn, New York. To carry out the schemes, the criminal actors allegedly trafficked hundreds of people and forced them to work in a network of compounds across Cambodia. The "violent, forced labor camps" consisted of vast dormitories surrounded by high walls and barbed wire, according to the Justice Department.
To dodge law enforcement, Chen and Prince Group's top executives allegedly paid bribes to public officials and used their political influence, the department said.
Mark Taylor, who formerly worked on human trafficking issues in Cambodia for the nonprofit Winrock International, said that Chen was embedded in the Cambodian elite and "well protected" by the government, showing "the larger role that Cambodia has played as a safe center for this online scamming to prosper." Chen was formerly a personal adviser to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.
"Cambodia is the physical location where a lot of it operates, but it's also the money laundering center for the entire region," Taylor said
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, field surveys and media reports.
Chen remains at large, according to the Justice Department. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.
Edited by Anne Marie D. Lee
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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