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The U.S. government has carried out the biggest cryptocurrency seizure in history, taking control of $14 billion in Bitcoin.
Prosecutors say the digital fortune was tied to Cambodian businessman Chen Zhi and a transnational scam empire fueled by human trafficking and crypto fraud.
U.S. prosecutors have seized 127,271 Bitcoin valued at over $14 billion (£10.5 billion) and charged Chen Zhi, the 38-year-old founder of Prince Holding Group, with orchestrating what’s being called the biggest crypto scam of 2025.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges that Chen built a “sprawling cyber-fraud empire” out of Cambodia, laundering billions through fake crypto investment schemes, shell companies, and even London real estate worth £100 million.
Chen, who also goes by Vincent Chen, faces wire fraud and money-laundering charges in the U.S. but remains at large.
The operation, carried out in coordination with U.K. law enforcement, also resulted in the freezing of 19 British properties and sanctions on multiple Prince-linked companies.
Officials say it’s part of a wider effort to cut off the global crypto-crime supply chain.
Court filings reveal that Chen’s conglomerate allegedly operated ten forced-labour compounds across Cambodia, sites resembling “digital prisons” where trafficked workers were made to run scams around the clock.
The DOJ says workers were recruited under false job ads, then stripped of passports and confined behind barbed wire.
Inside, they ran “phone farms” using thousands of devices to impersonate investors or romantic partners, luring victims into fake crypto deals.
Two compounds alone controlled over 76,000 social media profiles - a staggering number that hints at the industrial scale of these scams.
“This wasn’t just financial crime, it was human exploitation masked as fintech innovation,” said Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg.
Victims around the world lost life savings, retirement funds, and even homes to the scams.
One American reportedly lost more than $400,000 in Bitcoin, believing she was investing through a legitimate platform.
Authorities allege Chen used his crypto windfall to fund an extravagant lifestyle from private jets and rare watches to fine art purchases, including a Picasso painting acquired through a New York auction house.
In London, his network purchased 17 luxury flats, a £12 million North London mansion, and a £100 million commercial property through shell companies in the British Virgin Islands.
“They were ruining the lives of vulnerable people and buying up London homes to store their dirty money,” said U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.
The size of the seizure, more than double the 2013 Silk Road Bitcoin recovery has rattled crypto traders worldwide. Analysts say it could become a litmus test for how governments handle seized digital assets.
If liquidated, the holdings could flood the market and impact Bitcoin’s price trajectory, especially if courts authorize the U.S. to convert the coins to fiat currency for victim restitution.
Financial crime experts say the case may also accelerate a new wave of crypto regulation, particularly around anti-money-laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) enforcement.
According to Jacob Daniel Sims, a transnational crime expert at Harvard’s Asia Center, the crackdown sends a rare message that elite-backed scam economies are no longer untouchable
Chen’s ties to Cambodia’s ruling elite run deep. He’s previously served as an economic adviser to Prime Minister Hun Manet, and was awarded the honorary title of “Neak Oknha” - a distinction often reserved for the country’s wealthiest patrons.
This proximity to power, experts say, allowed him to operate with impunity for years, even as Chinese and Western authorities tracked his companies for money laundering and human trafficking.
The U.N. estimates that 100,000 people in Cambodia remain trapped in similar scam networks, with hundreds of thousands more across Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos.
The Prince Group became infamous for a devastating tactic known as “pig-butchering scams” a blend of emotional manipulation and digital deception that’s now one of the fastest-growing forms of online investment fraud.
The name comes from the idea of “fattening up” the victim emotionally before the financial kill.
Scammers posing as friendly strangers or potential romantic partners would strike up long conversations on platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, or Telegram, often over weeks or months.
They’d share fake personal stories, selfies, and emotional confessions, slowly building trust until the victim was convinced they’d met a genuine friend or partner.
Only then would the scammer introduce a supposedly exclusive cryptocurrency investment, promising high returns and “inside” access to private trading platforms.
Victims often watched their digital dashboards show impressive gains, completely unaware that the numbers were fabricated by the criminals controlling the fake trading sites.
When they finally tried to withdraw their funds, the money was gone. Some victims even took out loans or sold assets to invest more, believing they were building a shared future with the scammer.
For many, the financial loss was devastating, but the emotional betrayal cut even deeper.
U.K. Fraud Minister Lord Hanson said fraudsters “prey on the most vulnerable by stealing life savings and destroying trust,” adding that the government “will not tolerate this kind of digital exploitation.”
Cybercrime experts say these so-called “romance-investment scams” have evolved into full-scale criminal industries, blending psychological grooming, human trafficking, and cryptocurrency fraud.
And as artificial intelligence makes fake profiles even more convincing, investigators warn that the line between emotional manipulation and organized financial crime is vanishing fast.
The seized Bitcoin now held in U.S. government custody, may eventually be used to repay victims, pending court approval. But with Bitcoin’s price still volatile, the recovery value could fluctuate by billions.
Chen faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.
Meanwhile, the case stands as a defining moment in how governments confront the growing intersection of cryptocurrency, organized crime, and human trafficking.
It signals a shift toward stronger international cooperation and stricter financial oversight across digital assets.
The $14 billion Bitcoin seizure goes far beyond numbers on a blockchain, it represents a global reckoning with the darker side of fintech innovation.
It shows how wealth, exploitation, and technology have converged to create one of the most complex criminal economies of the modern era.
What is the Prince Group crypto scam?
A massive forced-labour and investment fraud network based in Cambodia, allegedly run by Prince Group founder Chen Zhi, using fake crypto platforms to steal billions.
How much Bitcoin was seized by the U.S. government in 2025?
Authorities confiscated 127,271 Bitcoin—worth roughly $14 billion—making it the largest crypto seizure in history.
Was human trafficking involved in the scam?
Yes. Prosecutors allege trafficked workers were forced to run scams in prison-like compounds under threat of violence.
Will victims be reimbursed?
If courts approve, the seized Bitcoin could be sold and distributed to compensate victims of the fraud.
Could this case impact the crypto market?
Experts warn that liquidating the seized Bitcoin could temporarily affect prices and trigger new global crypto regulations.
