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Chinese tycoon tied to $11B ‘pig butchering’ bitcoin scam taken into custody

admin — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 22:45:07 +0000

A Chinese-born tycoon who is wanted in the US for allegedly stealing at least $11 billion worth of bitcoin as part of a “pig butchering” scam targeting Americans and others has been taken into custody in Asia, according to local authorities.

Chen Zhi, chairman of Cambodia-based multinational conglomerate Prince Group, was arrested by law enforcement officials in Cambodia and extradited to China, Cambodian government officials said on Wednesday.

Cambodia’s interior ministry said it arrested Chen on Tuesday at the request of the Chinese government “within the scope of cooperation in combating transnational crime.”

Chen Zhi, the chairman of Prince Group, is pictured during a public appearance in Cambodia prior to his arrest. Prince Holding Group

Chen, who is a naturalized Cambodian citizen, was subsequently extradited to China, according to the Wall Street Journal.

It is unclear if Chinese authorities intend to indict Chen.

A so-called “pig butchering” scam is a form of cryptocurrency fraud in which victims are slowly groomed through fake online relationships before being steered into bogus investment platforms.

Scammers spend weeks or months building trust — often posing as romantic interests or successful investors — before convincing targets to transfer cryptocurrency to accounts they control, draining victims of their savings once they attempt to withdraw funds.

The Justice Department announced in October that it was seeking Chen’s arrest on charges of wire fraud and money laundering after seizing 127,271 bitcoin, which at the time was worth around $15 billion.

Asked for comment Wednesday, the DOJ referred to an October press release in which Attorney General Pam Bondi said: “By dismantling a criminal empire built on forced labor and deception, we are sending a clear message that the United States will use every tool at its disposal to defend victims, recover stolen assets, and bring to justice those who exploit the vulnerable for profit.”

An image circulated by investigators shows an injured man alleged to have been held inside a scam compound linked to the network tied to Chen Zhi. United States District Court Eastern District Of New York

Since October, bitcoin’s value has fallen by nearly 30%.

Prosecutors say the stolen cryptocurrency was funneled into lavish personal spending, including luxury watches, high-end artwork, yachts, private jets and prime real estate, with authorities freezing assets such as a $16 million London mansion, a $126 million office building in the city’s financial district and even a Picasso painting purchased in New York.

Chen and Prince Group have denied the allegations.

China does not have a formal extradition treaty with the United States, raising questions about whether Chen could ever be transferred to face charges in US court.

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Extraditions between the two countries are rare and typically handled through ad hoc diplomatic arrangements rather than a standing legal framework.

Chen is alleged to have operated massive online “scam centers” that used trafficked workers and forced labor to defraud victims in the US, UK and at least a dozen other countries.

A man bearing visible marks on his face is shown in an image provided by authorities documenting alleged abuse inside a scam compound. United States District Court Eastern District Of New York

US authorities allege that Chen and Prince Group owned and operated at least 10 scam compounds across Cambodia where thousands of workers — many of whom were trafficked from China — were held against their will and forced into labor that entailed blackmailing or tricking people into making fake investments.

Authorities say many of the trafficked workers forced to run the scams were themselves victims, recruited with promises of legitimate jobs before having their passports confiscated and being subjected to threats, beatings and confinement if they failed to meet fraud quotas.

The US government has alleged that Chen and Prince Group used their political influence and paid bribes in order to avoid criminal liability in China.

Dozens of people are seen sitting on the ground during a law enforcement raid at an alleged online scam operation in Cambodia. United States District Court Eastern District Of New York

Brooklyn federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment in federal court alleging that Chen assumed the alias of “Vincent” and “mastermind[ed]…a spawling cyber-fraud empire operating under the Prince Group umbrella, a criminal enterprise built on human suffering.”

According to the Justice Department, Chen’s operation had “malicious actors” contact “unwitting victims through messaging or social media applications and convinced them to transfer cryptocurrency to specified accounts based on false promises that the funds would be invested and generate profits.”

“In reality, the funds were stolen from the victims and laundered for the benefit of the perpetrators.”

US officials have described the alleged scheme as one of the largest cryptocurrency fraud cases ever uncovered, with victims often drained of life savings after being lured into fake online relationships that slowly funneled them into bogus investment platforms controlled by the organization.

Federal prosecutors continue to pursue the forfeiture of seized cryptocurrency and investigate other alleged members of the network.

The Post has sought comment from the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC.

The post Chinese tycoon tied to $11B ‘pig butchering’ bitcoin scam taken into custody appeared first on Our Story Insight.

Crypto scams thrive in 2024 on back of ‘pig butchering’ and AI: Report

admin — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 11:09:34 +0000

Chainalysis said that crypto wallets linked to scams received $9.9 billion in cryptocurrency in 2024, according to its initial estimates

Boonchai Wedmakawand | Moment | Getty Images

Crypto fraud revenue is estimated to have hit record levels last year amid a surge in so-called romance scams as cybercriminals leverage artificial intelligence and become more organized, blockchain research firm Chainalysis warns.

In a report released Thursday, the firm said that crypto wallets linked to scams received $9.9 billion in cryptocurrency in 2024, according to its initial estimates. It predicts 2024’s figure to grow to a record of $12.4 billion as Chainalysis identifies more scam wallets.

Chainalysis added that its yearly estimates of scam activity have risen by an average of 24% between annual reporting periods since 2020.

According to its 2024 report, a leading reason for the uptick in scam revenue was an increase in the prevalence of romance scams, commonly known as “pig butchering.”

Pig butchering is a type of investing or romance scam in which a fraudster builds relationships with victims via social media or dating apps, intending to con them out of money through a sham investment opportunity.

The name “pig butchering” comes from the idea that scammers must first “fatten up” the victims with flattery and fabricated bonds before “butchering,” or stealing their money.

More victims sent to slaughter

In 2024, pig butchering revenue grew nearly 40% year over year, with the number of deposits to pig butchering scams growing nearly 210% over the same period, according to Chainalysis.

The firm said that those differing growth rates indicated an expansion of the victim pool, prioritizing more victims in exchange for smaller payments.

While pig butchering scams predominantly originate from large scam compounds in Southeast Asia, there are signs that such scam centers have begun to become more geographically dispersed, the report stated.

Last December, Nigeria’s anti-graft agency announced the arrest of 792 people in a raid on a building, where the suspects were believed to be running romance scams that targeted people mostly from Europe and the Americas, according to Reuters.

Romance scams often rely on human trafficking victims to carry out fraud. An investigation by ProPublica in 2022 outlined how Chinese criminal syndicates were trafficking victims to centers in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, forcing them to perform cyberfraud under threat of violence.

While those scam compounds are often known for running pig butchering scams, they also act as havens for other types of frauds that can be carried out via the internet, according to Eric Heintz, a global analyst at International Justice Mission, who is cited in the Chainalysis report.

“It’s not uncommon to have multiple criminal groups operating within the same compound focusing on different scams,” he added.

Scam ecosystem ‘professionalizes’

The dynamic of multiple criminal groups operating within a compound has also materialized online through the creation of illicit crypto marketplaces and networks, according to Chainalysis.

Primarily, this trend has been driven by Huione Guarantee, an online forum and peer-to-peer marketplace Chainalysis says operates as a “one-stop-shop” for illicit actors looking to buy and sell scam technology, infrastructure and resources.

The Chinese-language platform is connected to Huione Group, a Cambodian conglomerate that offers legitimate services such as overseas remittances, insurance and, in the past, even luxury tourism offerings.

According to Chainalysis, Huione Guarantee’s activity on blockchains indicates that it’s heavily used to support the pig butchering industry and for illicit crypto-based trading of scam technology products and services.

One of the main services hosted on the platform is money laundering, which scammers use to conceal their illicit activity, according to Chainalysis data.

Meanwhile, some of the illicit products found on the site include targeted data lists, web hosting services, social media accounts and AI software. In 2024, Huione scam technology vendors received at least $375.9 million in cryptocurrency.

Since 2021, Huione Guarantee and vendors advertising through its platforms have processed $70 billion in crypto transactions.

“In short, Huione Guarantee has driven and enabled a scam ecosystem that is massive, growing, and interconnected,” the firm said in its report.

Huione Guarantee did not respond to a CNBC inquiry.

In a disclaimer on its website, the platform says it does not participate in or understand its customers’ specific businesses and is only responsible for guaranteeing payments between buyers and sellers, according to a CNBC translation of the Chinese-language statement.

Artificial intelligence facilitates scams

In 2024, some of the most successful vendors on the Huione platform were AI service providers, who saw revenue grow by 1,900% year over year, as per Chainalysis data.

This growth indicates an explosion in the use of generative AI technology to facilitate crypto scams, which often entails scammers using the tech to impersonate others or generate realistic content that fool victims into making phony investments.

Chainalysis’s report said there are dozens of software vendors hosted on Huione Guarantee that sell this type of scam AI software.

According to Elad Fouks, head of fraud products at Chainalysis and co-founder of fraud-detection app Alterya, who is quoted in the report, generative AI can be used to amplify and scale up crypto fraud and crimes.

“GenAI enables the generation of realistic fake content, including websites and listings, to power investment scams, purchase scams, and more, making these attacks more convincing and harder to detect,” Fouks said.

Some Huione vendors are even advertising “face-changing services” for $200 worth of cryptocurrency.

Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT launched in 2022 and saw its popularity grow, there have been a growing number of cases of large firms losing millions to deepfake scams. Such scams use generative AI to create synthetic and fake identities and voices that allow fraudsters to impersonate real people and bypass identity verification controls

Chainalysis says that the potential of AI technology to scale crypto scams exponentially further adds to the challenges associated with combating those crimes.

Tackling crypto scams at scale will require sustained efforts from government agencies, regulators and organizations, the firm said.

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