The Department of Justice seized $15 billion in bitcoin from Chen "Vincent" Zhi, founder of Prince Holding Group, who allegedly ran cryptocurrency-enabled forced labor operations across Cambodia. According to CNBC, prosecutors discovered facilities housing trafficked workers who operated 1,250 phones controlling 76,000 social media accounts — all designed to execute "pig butchering" scams that exploited vulnerable Americans.
The scheme represents industrial-scale fraud: trafficked individuals were locked in ten compounds across Cambodia and forced under threat of violence to spend months building fake romantic relationships with victims before convincing them to hand over cryptocurrency. These operations combined human trafficking with systematic financial fraud, creating what prosecutors describe as romance scam factories staffed by people who couldn't leave.
Zhi remains at large, likely operating within his business network that spans 30 countries, where he's allegedly bribed officials to avoid prosecution. If caught and convicted, he faces 40 years in prison for pioneering a criminal enterprise that weaponized both human trafficking and cryptocurrency fraud on an unprecedented scale.
Previously:
• Undercover video exposes massive 'Pig Butchering' romance scam center in Dubai
• Rural Kansas banker steals $47M in crypto pig butchering scam
• Interpol's bizarre attempt to rebrand major online fraud scheme
• Ecstatic self-butchering pig
