An alleged crypto-fraud kingpin accused by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn of overseeing brutal forced labor camps has been arrested in Cambodia — but it’s not clear if he’ll ever face a judge in New York.
Chen Zhi, 37, was arrested Tuesday and deported to China, media outlets in Cambodia reported. China has no extradition treaty with the U.S., and Chinese law bars the extradition of its own citizens.
Chen, who’s described by federal prosecutors here as a citizen of China, Cambodia, Vanuatu, St. Lucia and Cyprus, was indicted in the U.S. in October on wire fraud conspiracy and money-laundering conspiracy charges. The feds also announced they had seized $15 billion in Bitcoin from Chen, in what prosecutors described as the largest forfeiture action in Justice Department history.
The founder and chairman of the Prince Holding Group, Chen oversaw forced work camps in Cambodia where “pig butchering” scammers contacted victims through text messages or social networks, then persuaded them to invest in bogus crypto funds, the feds allege.
Beaten and abused workers in Cambodian forced labor camps made to run these scams on unsuspecting victims. (Evidence photo)
Cambodia’s Interior Ministry confirmed his arrest in a statement, the English-language Kiripost reported. Chen was stripped of his Cambodian citizenship in December, the outlet reported.
“Pig butchering” scammers typically cold-contact victims with a wrong-number message, then try to keep communicating by chatting up investment opportunities, claiming they need money for an emergency or starting a fake romance. They then trick their targets into signing up to fraudulent websites and apps, steal their money and go silent.
Beaten and abused workers in Cambodian forced labor camps made to run fraud scams on unsuspecting victims. (Evidence photo)
Prince Holding Group employed thousands of trafficked migrant workers who came to Cambodia looking for work, trapping them in compounds with “vast dormitories surrounded by high walls and barbed wire,” the feds said in court filings.
Chen oversaw 10 of these compounds, authorizing beatings and violence to keep the workers in line, the feds allege.
Beaten and abused workers in Cambodian forced labor camps made to run “pig butchering” scams on unsuspecting victims. (Evidence photo)
The fraud had a link to New York, according to the feds — Prince Group also used local networks, including one in Brooklyn, to help launder around $18 million in stolen funds from more than 250 victims through shell companies, prosecutors allege.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn declined to comment Wednesday.