In October 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice announced what is now the largest asset forfeiture in American legal history: the seizure of 127,271 Bitcoin — worth approximately $15 billion at the time — linked to a Cambodian criminal empire known as the Prince Group. The case, which has become known as Operation Prince, offers a sobering look at how sophisticated cryptocurrency fraud is carried out at an industrial scale, and why every crypto user needs to understand the warning signs.
On the surface, the Prince Group presented itself as a sprawling, legitimate multinational conglomerate — a real estate and financial services business operating in more than 30 countries. In reality, according to U.S. federal prosecutors, it was one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organisations, built on forced labour, human trafficking, and large-scale online fraud.
The organisation’s founder and chairman, Chen Zhi (also known as “Vincent”), a Chinese émigré who holds multiple passports, was indicted in federal court in Brooklyn on charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison. Chen was taken into custody in Cambodia and transferred to China in January 2026.
At the heart of Operation Prince was a type of scam known as “pig butchering” — a term that refers to the practice of patiently grooming a victim before exploiting them. Here’s how the scheme typically operates:
According to the U.S. indictment, Prince Group ran at least 10 forced labour compounds across Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, where trafficked workers were held against their will behind barbed wire and under threat of violence, forced to carry out these scams on behalf of the organisation around the clock. Internal records recovered by investigators reportedly included instructions for managing workers, including guidance on punishing those who underperformed — without going so far as to cause fatalities.
The numbers involved in this case are staggering:
FBI Director Kash Patel described it as “one of the largest financial fraud takedowns in history.”
The laundering methods used were sophisticated. Investigators found evidence of “spraying and funnelling” — a technique where large sums of cryptocurrency are broken up across dozens of wallet addresses and then reconsolidated to obscure their origin. Proceeds were also laundered through Prince Group’s own gambling and Bitcoin mining operations. A portion of the stolen funds was spent on yachts, private jets, and at least one artwork purchased through a New York auction house.
Behind the financial figures is a story of profound human suffering. Foreign nationals were trafficked into the compounds under false pretences — lured by promises of legitimate work — and then coerced into running scams under threat of violence. Workers who failed to meet targets could be beaten or sold to other compounds.
For the victims of the scams themselves, the losses were often life-altering. Investigators and journalists working with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) documented dozens of cases where victims lost their entire life savings. In at least one case in the United States, a victim took his own life after being defrauded of everything he had.
Despite the scale of the seizure, the road to justice remains complicated. As of March 2026:
The case highlights a painful reality: even when law enforcement achieves a breakthrough of this magnitude, getting money back into victims’ hands is a slow, uncertain process.
Operation Prince is a reminder that crypto fraud is not a niche problem — it is a global, multi-billion-dollar industry run by organised crime. Here are the key warning signs to watch for:
At CoinPort, we are an AUSTRAC-licensed Australian cryptocurrency exchange committed to operating transparently, securely, and in full compliance with Australian law. We take our obligations under Australia’s AML/CTF framework seriously — not just as a regulatory requirement, but because we believe a safe crypto ecosystem protects every legitimate user.
If you have been contacted by someone offering crypto investment opportunities that seem too good to be true, or if you have concerns about a transaction you’ve made, please do not hesitate to reach out to our team. We are here to help.
Sources: U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Treasury OFAC, FBI, CNN, ICIJ, TRM Labs, Chainalysis, Help Net Security
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or legal advice.
Kind regards
The CoinPort Exchange Team