The US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) has formally charged Chinese businessman Chen Zhi with operating a large-scale cryptocurrency investment scam in more than 30 countries through his international criminal network, the Cambodia-based Prince Group.
The indictment alleges that Chen's organization operated at least 10 different fraud centers in Cambodia, causing billions of dollars in losses globally through methods known as “pig-butchering.” The US Department of Justice (DOJ) requested the seizure of numerous assets, including 127,271 Bitcoin (BTC) and luxury yachts and private jets, as part of the case.
The US Treasury Department has also placed Prince Group TCO, controlled by Chen Zhi, and its affiliated network in Palau on its sanctions list. This includes banning US citizens from conducting any transactions with the entities and freezing all related assets.
FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) also identified the Cambodia-based Huione Group as the center of approximately $4 billion in money laundering activity. The agency found that transactions between August 2021 and January 2025 included $37 million in thefts from North Korean hacker groups. FinCEN announced that Huione Group has been completely removed from the US financial system.
Blockchain researcher ZachXBT recalled that the wallet address holding approximately 127,000 BTC that the US government plans to seize was flagged two years ago in the Milky Sad report for a private key vulnerability. The US government reportedly now has control of the Bitcoin wallet in question.
The value of these Bitcoin assets today corresponds to approximately $14 billion.