DOJ Seeks 127,271 Bitcoin Forfeiture Over Chen Zhi Fraud Network

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking control of 127,271 Bitcoin, roughly valued at $12 billion to $14.4 billion depending on market prices, that investigators say were generated by an alleged transnational "pig butchering" investment fraud run by Chen Zhi, the founder and chair of a Cambodia-based company. The filing, submitted in the Eastern District of New York on Oct. 14 and unsealed this week in federal court in Brooklyn, accompanies a criminal indictment charging Chen with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.

According to court documents and statements from prosecutors, Chen oversaw a network of scam compounds in Southeast Asia that lured migrants with false job offers and coerced hundreds of people into operating long-form romance and investment frauds. Victims were allegedly cultivated online, persuaded to transfer funds, and then deprived of those assets. Prosecutors say the enterprise used shell companies, unhosted cryptocurrency wallets, and payment rails tied to Huione Group to launder proceeds and move funds across borders, and that senior figures paid bribes and leveraged political connections to shield...