Alleged Pig Butchering Scam Kingpin Charged By DOJ; Agency Seizes A Record $15 Billion In Bitcoin

On October 8, 2025, the alleged founder and director of Prince Holding Group (“Prince Group”), Chen Zhi (“Chen”), was indicted on wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges, Law360 reported. Prince Group is “one of Cambodia’s most ubiquitous brands[,]” according to Radio Free Asia, touching “nearly every corner of the Cambodian marketplace[,]” including shopping malls, banks, cinemas, hotels, casinos, and more. Its founder, Chen, is “one of Cambodia’s best-connected tycoons,” having held a position equal to secretary of state as an adviser to Cambodia’s Interior Ministry and later becoming an adviser to two Cambodian prime ministers.

The DOJ claims that in recent years the Prince Group “came to dominate the rapidly growing online scam industry.” It operated at least ten scam compounds in Cambodia, where workers are trafficked and forced to engage in pig butchering schemes, often under threat of violence. “Pig butchering” is an investment fraud scheme whereby a perpetrator typically uses a fictitious identity and contacts a victim through text messages or social media. After establishing a relationship with the victim, the perpetrator eventually devises a narrative (such as investment opportunities or romance scams) to get the victim to send money. Once the victim’s funds are received, the perpetrators disappear with it.

Prince Group’s compounds allegedly “housed vast dormitories surrounded by high walls and barbed wire, and functioned as forced labor camps.” The compounds’ workers targeted victims throughout the world in investment scams with the help of local networks, including one in Brooklyn. The victims’ money was laundered and ultimately returned to the Prince Group. The funds were used for “luxury travel and entertainment,” in addition to “watches, yachts, private jets, vacation homes, high-end collectables and rare artwork [.]” The DOJ alleges that the Brooklyn Network alone transferred and laundered over $18 million on the Prince Group’s behalf from over 250 victims in the U.S.

In addition to the criminal charges, the DOJ also filed a civil forfeiture complaint against approximately 127,271 bitcoin, worth about $15 billion, that the DOJ claims was previously stored in crypto wallets whose private keys had been in Chen’s possession. This is the largest forfeiture action in the DOJ’s history.