US Charges Cambodian Executive in Massive Crypto Scam and Seizes More Than $14 Billion in Bitcoin

The U.S. government has seized more than $14 billion in bitcoin and charged the founder of a Cambodian conglomerate in a massive cryptocurrency scam, accusing him and unnamed co-conspirators of exploiting forced labor to dupe would-be investors and using the proceeds to purchase yachts, jets and a Picasso painting.

In an indictment unsealed Tuesday, Brooklyn federal prosecutors charged Prince Holding Group chairman Chen Zhi with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. At the same time, U.S. and British authorities imposed sanctions on Chen’s company, which is involved in real estate development and financial services, and the Treasury Department declared it a transnational criminal organization.

Chen, 38, is accused of sanctioning violence against workers, authorizing bribes to foreign officials and using his other businesses, such as online gambling and cryptocurrency mining, to launder illicit profits.

Chen was the “mastermind behind a sprawling cyberfraud empire,” Assistant Attorney General ...