DOJ Seeks Forfeiture of 127,271 BTC Tied to Scam Network

On Oct. 14, 2025, the Justice Department filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking 127,271 bitcoins, worth roughly $15 billion, connected to Cambodian national Chen Zhi and a network of scam compounds in Southeast Asia. Chen, who founded and chaired Prince Holding Group, also faces criminal charges in Brooklyn including wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. The DOJ called the action the largest forfeiture in the department’s history.

The complaint targets digital assets the government says were derived from investment and romance scams run from compounds across countries in the region. The bitcoin holdings are in U.S. custody and the filing seeks to forfeit those assets as proceeds of alleged criminal activity.

Federal investigators linked the scam centers to human trafficking, money laundering and organized crime. The FBI described an umbrella effort, Operation Blackout, that combined investigations into cryptocurrency fraud, trafficking and money laundering tied to sites in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. Authorities say the operations targeted U.S. residents and used financial networks to move proceeds offshore.

A separate probe, Operation Haochen, focused on the Tai Chang compound in Kyaukhat, Myanmar, an area the DOJ ties to the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, a group sanctioned by the U.S. The FBI reported it seized about $30 million connected to Tai Chang and related sites.

According to FBI Director Kash Patel, investigators “helped free nearly 2,000 trafficked workers, shut down more than $8 billion in scam center fraud, and arrested nearly 300 people.” The bureau described rescue efforts and arrests made across multiple investigations linked to the compounds.

The FBI also cited cooperation with technology partners. The agency credited geolocation data from a satellite internet provider for helping identify terminals allegedly supporting scam operations in Myanmar; the provider suspended more than 7,000 terminals after the information was shared. The FBI and the U.S. Secret Service launched Operation Level Up, which has notified 8,935 potential cryptocurrency investment fraud victims and says it prevented an estimated $562.7 million in losses.

In April, the DOJ’s Scam Center Strike Force charged two Chinese nationals, seized a Telegram recruitment channel used to staff scam centers and took control of 503 fraudulent investment websites. That operation also restrained more than $700 million in cryptocurrency that the department alleges was tied to scam-center money laundering.

The civil forfeiture complaint and criminal case against Chen are part of broader law enforcement actions aimed at disrupting the financial infrastructure behind transnational scam operations. Prosecutors say the seized assets and restrained accounts are linked to coordinated campaigns that moved funds through cryptocurrency wallets and used online platforms to recruit victims and workers.

The DOJ’s initial filings did not provide a full accounting of how investigators traced the 127,271 BTC to Chen and his network. Authorities continue to pursue asset restraints, victim notifications and criminal prosecutions related to the scam compounds.