How US Made Its Largest Crypto Seizure, Busting A Cambodian Human-Trafficking And Fraud Ring Worth $15 Billion

The US government has seized $15 billion in Bitcoin and unsealed criminal charges against Cambodian tycoon Chen Zhi, also known as “Vincent,” marking the largest cryptocurrency forfeiture in American history, officials announced Tuesday. The seizure, detailed by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, forms part of a sweeping investigation into one of the world’s most sophisticated human trafficking and cyber-fraud networks.Chen, 43, is the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group, a Cambodian conglomerate with interests spanning real estate, finance, and tourism. According to prosecutors, Chen used his business empire as cover for a massive forced-labour operation, where trafficked workers were coerced into running “pig butchering” scams — elaborate online investment frauds designed to manipulate victims into transferring large sums of cryptocurrency.“These victims were confined, brutalised, and forced to defraud others across the globe,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi, calling the case “one of the most significant strikes ever against the global scourge of human trafficking and cyber-enabled financial fraud.”Inside the Criminal Empire and $15 Billion Bitcoin HaulAccording to court filings, Chen’s criminal enterprise operated a web of fortified compounds across Cambodia, surrounded by walls and barbed wire. Workers were lured by false job offers, then detained and subjected to violence if they refused to participate. The US Justice Department (DOJ) alleges that Chen’s network defrauded hundreds of thousands of victims worldwide, including more than 250 in the United States, through a network of brokers and digital laundering cells — one of which operated in Brooklyn.Investigators traced 127,000 Bitcoin to wallets controlled by Chen and his associates, now in the custody of the US government. The DOJ said the cryptocurrency proceeds were laundered through shell companies, gambling platforms, and high-end art purchases, including a Picasso painting sold via a New York auction house.Global Sanctions and Ongoing Hunt for ChenThe US Department of the Treasury has designated Prince Holding Group as a transnational criminal organisation, while the United Kingdom imposed parallel sanctions against Chen and his inner circle. Chen remains at large, and prosecutors have called for international cooperation to apprehend him.If convicted, Chen faces up to 40 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The case underscores what US officials describe as the growing convergence of human trafficking, organised crime, and cryptocurrency abuse, a nexus they say will remain a top national security priority.