The US government just seized $8 BILLION in Bitcoin from a single Cambodian businessman. The largest forfeiture in American history. Most people have never heard his name.
> Chen Zhi is 38 years old. He runs the Prince Group, one of the largest corporate conglomerates in Cambodia.
> On paper they do real estate, finance, banking, and consumer services across more than 30 countries.
> Behind the corporate cover, Prince Group ran at least 10 forced labor compounds across Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos.
> The workers inside were trafficked, beaten, sometimes sold between compounds and forced to run online scams under threat of violence.
> The scams are called pig butchering. A worker builds a fake online relationship with a stranger over weeks or months. Romance, friendship, business advice.
> Once the trust is built, they pitch a fake crypto investment platform. The victim deposits. The victim deposits more. Eventually the platform disappears and so does the worker.
> At just two of the compounds, the DOJ counted 1,250 mobile phones running 76,000 active social media accounts.
> The whole operation was generating $30 MILLION a day at its peak.
> The money flowed into Bitcoin wallets controlled directly by Chen Zhi.
> The US government just took 127,271 BTC from those wallets. Worth $8 BILLION at today's price. Worth $15 BILLION when they seized it.
> It is the largest forfeiture in American history.
> Chen Zhi has been indicted in Brooklyn federal court on wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
> He was arrested in Cambodia and deported to China earlier this year. Cambodia revoked his citizenship. His Prince Bank was ordered into liquidation. The UK froze his assets and his wife's.
> If he is convicted, the 127,271 BTC will be added to the US strategic Bitcoin reserve.
> The reserve currently holds around 198,000 BTC. Chen Zhi alone would push it to 325,000.
> No restitution plan has been announced for the victims he scammed. The US Treasury estimates Americans lost over $10 BILLION to Southeast Asian scam compounds in 2025 alone.
> The United States Institute of Peace puts the global figure at $64 BILLION a year.
The biggest fortune ever seized by the US government wasn't taken from a cartel or a bank. It was taken from a man running call centers full of slaves.