Bloomberg reported that Prince Group founder Chen Zhi is seeking the return of 127,271 BTC in a New York court, challenging a U.S. seizure tied to a sprawling criminal case. The report says the bitcoin was worth about $15 billion at the time and represented the largest cryptocurrency seizure in U.S. history.
Based on interviews with more than 20 people familiar with the matter, the investigation reconstructs how Chen built influence in Cambodia through real estate, philanthropy, finance, and political connections while U.S. authorities accused him of running a transnational scam and money-laundering network. Prosecutors described the organization as one that stole billions of dollars from victims stretching from New York to Asia.
Rise in Cambodia through property and political ties
According to the report, Chen was born in 1987 in China’s Fujian province, where he had operated internet cafes and gaming centers before moving to Cambodia. He obtained Cambodian citizenship in 2014 and went on to establish Prince Real Estate, which quickly became a visible force in Phnom Penh development.
Bloomberg says his public identity as a self-made businessman and donor helped expand his reach. The report lists donations that included vehicles for Cambodia’s national police and more than $2 million for the Cambodian Red Cross. In 2020, he received the title of Neak Oknha and was appointed as an adviser to then-Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Investigators linked scam compounds to crypto flows
The report says Prince Group developed compounds across Cambodia, including sites later identified by U.S. investigators as hubs for pig-butchering scams. An FBI investigation cited in the article says one of Chen’s close associates bragged that in 2018 the group was making more than $30 million per day from pig-butchering operations and related illegal activity.
Some of that money, Bloomberg says, was used to build crypto mining facilities. Bitcoin and other digital assets produced there could be moved across borders with little friction. U.S. charging documents also alleged that Chen personally oversaw compound operations and approved violent discipline inside the sites.
More than 100 entities and hundreds of bank accounts
Court files reviewed by Bloomberg say Chen used companies in places such as the British Virgin Islands to control more than 100 entities. Those entities held hundreds of accounts at institutions including Deutsche Bank, Bank Julius Baer, OCBC and its private banking arm, Revolut, and Maybank. The report says the accounts were used for property purchases, fund transfers, and crypto trading.
Security researcher Leo Lin told Bloomberg the case is seen as one of the biggest and most significant transnational organized crime operations in modern history, in part because of its proximity to state power. The article also says Chen controlled office property in London’s financial district, a 99-year island lease in Palau, and a 50% stake in Habanos.
Sanctions, asset seizures, and extradition followed
Bloomberg says the crackdown accelerated in October 2025, when the U.S. imposed full sanctions on Chen and Prince Group and froze his London property. Federal prosecutors charged him with money laundering and wire fraud, while disclosing the seizure of the 127,271 bitcoin. Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Thailand opened investigations, and South Korea imposed sanctions on Chen and his associates. Across Asia, authorities identified or seized more than $1 billion in bank accounts and other assets.
Late on January 7, 2026, Cambodia announced Chen’s arrest and extradition. The report says Cambodia later revoked his citizenship, ordered the liquidation of Prince Bank, shut his watchmaking school, and halted sales at major real estate projects. Thousands of workers from China, Indonesia, Pakistan, and other countries reportedly emerged from suspected scam compounds in Sihanoukville after guards fled. Even so, researchers cited by Bloomberg warned that the wider scam economy in Cambodia had not been dismantled, with some compounds already advertising for workers again online.