‘Scam centre billionaire’ deported months after seizure of $15B in Bitcoin

On the 6th of January 2026, Cambodian authorities arrested Chen Zhi, the billionaire founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group. They swiftly deported him to China, where he now faces multiple charges tied to multi‑billion‑dollar fraud.

The arrest also involved Xu Jiliang and Shao Jihui, marking the climax of a month-long joint investigation between Beijing and Phnom Penh.

For more than a decade, Chen operated at the highest levels of Cambodian society.

Since 2015, his conglomerate has seemed central to the regional economy, spanning banking, real estate, and hospitality.

How was the scam orchestrated?

The operation revolved around the “pig‑butchering” (Sha Zhu Pan) scam.

This scheme is a long con in which victims are gradually groomed through fake relationships or business deals, before ultimately being exploited and drained on fraudulent crypto platforms.

The scale of the fraud was massive.

In October 2025, U.S. prosecutors seized around 127,271 Bitcoin, worth nearly $15 billion, from wallets linked to Chen’s network. This marked the largest crypto seizure in Department of Justice history.

To conceal the money trail, the group operated over 100 shell companies and even ran its crypto mining operations. By channeling stolen funds through mining rewards, they attempted to disguise illicit proceeds as legitimate income.

In response, the U.S. Treasury and U.K. Foreign Office designated the group a criminal enterprise and sanctioned dozens of Bitcoin addresses, effectively cutting them off from the global financial system.

Other such scams

That being said, the extradition of Chen Zhi did not happen as an isolated event.

It is the latest domino to fall in a global, coordinated offensive against crypto-enabled crime.

Just weeks prior, London’s Southwark Crown Court handed down a nearly 12-year sentence to Qian Zhimin (the “Bitcoin Queen”) for laundering over $9 billion in stolen assets.

Additionally, a massive Europol-led operation recently dismantled a €700 million fraud network across Europe.

Thus, as law enforcement tightens the noose, U.S. lawmakers are moving to codify this pressure.

In mid‑December 2025, Senators Elissa Slotkin and Jerry Moran introduced the Strengthening Agency Frameworks for Enforcement of Cryptocurrency (SAFE) Crypto Act.

At the same time, Chen Zhi’s downfall has sent shockwaves through the market. These events may feel painful in the short term, creating uncertainty and pressure on valuations.

However, they also serve an important purpose. Stronger enforcement frameworks and accountability are necessary steps toward building a safer and more credible financial frontier.

In other words, today’s turbulence could lay the foundation for tomorrow’s stability.

Final Thoughts

• Chen Zhi’s arrest signals the collapse of long-standing safe havens that once protected Southeast Asia’s crypto-scam networks.
• Coordinated action by the U.S., U.K., EU, and China suggests this is not an isolated takedown, but part of a sustained global purge.