What happens when romance scams, forced labor, and billions in Bitcoin collide? You get a Bitcoin Scam so audacious it makes The Wolf of Wall Street look tame. In one of the largest crypto seizures in history, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) confiscated 127,271 bitcoins, worth roughly $15 billion.
This was connected to a global “pig butchering” operation allegedly run by Cambodian billionaire Chen Zhi.
Prosecutors describe a sprawling web of deception stretching across Southeast Asia — fake investment apps, online romance traps, and trafficked workers forced to lure victims into fraudulent crypto schemes. DOJ officials called it “one of the largest investment frauds in history.”
The Alleged Bitcoin Scam Mastermind: Chen Zhi
Meet Chen Zhi, a businessman whose Prince Holding Group claimed to invest in real estate and finance across 30 countries. Behind the glossy corporate image, investigators allege, was a darker empire.
According to the indictment unsealed in New York, Zhi’s network operated “scam compounds” in Cambodia — fenced-in facilities where trafficked laborers were forced to impersonate lovers online.