Singapore Freezes $150M in Belongings Tied to Alleged Bitcoin Fraud Kingpin

The Singapore police froze over S$150 million (roughly $106 million) in property linked to Chen Zhi, the Chinese language-born chairman of Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group, throughout enforcement operations performed on October 30.

In response to Caixin, the motion targets six properties, financial institution accounts, securities holdings, money, a yacht, 11 automobiles, and quite a few bottles of alcohol owned by Chen and his associates, who’re at present not in Singapore.

The seizure follows a coordinated worldwide enforcement effort that started in mid-October, when U.S. and UK authorities introduced felony indictments towards Chen and moved to confiscate roughly $14.4 billion price of Bitcoin tied to what prosecutors describe as one in every of Asia’s most refined transnational fraud operations.

From Mining Empire to Felony Community

Chen based Prince Holding Group in 2015, formally working in actual property, finance, and hospitality throughout greater than 30 international locations.

Federal prosecutors allege the conglomerate developed right into a felony enterprise that lured 1000’s of employees to Cambodia with false job gives, then trapped them in closely guarded compounds the place they have been compelled to run “pig butchering” scams.

These long-term on-line fraud schemes goal victims by grooming them earlier than tricking them into pretend crypto buying and selling platforms.

U.S. court docket paperwork reveal the community laundered stolen proceeds via greater than 100 shell corporations worldwide, routing funds via crypto exchanges and mining operations earlier than changing them into Bitcoin.

Between Could 2021 and August 2022, investigators traced no less than $18 million from over 250 U.S. victims via entities working in Brooklyn and Queens, representing only a fraction of the billions channeled again to Cambodia.

The U.S. Treasury’s Workplace of Overseas Belongings Management sanctioned 146 people and entities related to the Prince Group in October, whereas the Monetary Crimes Enforcement Community accused the Cambodia-based Huione Group of laundering no less than $4 billion in illicit proceeds.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the measures as “a world response to a world crime,” addressing losses exceeding $16 billion for American victims alone.

On the similar time, UK authorities additionally imposed sanctions on Chen and several other associates of the Prince Holding Group.

Dormant Bitcoin Stirs Contemporary Thriller

Simply 24 hours after the DOJ announcement, a pockets linked to the Chinese language mining pool LuBian, beforehand related to Chen’s operations, transferred 11,886 BTC, price roughly $1.3 billion, after greater than three years of dormancy.

One week later, the identical entity moved an extra 15,959 BTC, valued at $1.83 billion, to 4 totally different addresses, sparking hypothesis about whether or not the transfers have been for defensive repositioning or strategic reallocation.

Arkham Intelligence revealed in August that 127,426 BTC, now price roughly $14.5 billion, was stolen from LuBian in December 2020 via vulnerabilities in its non-public key technology system.

The pool vanished by February 2021 with out rationalization, having misplaced over 90% of its holdings, with most cash remaining dormant till July 2024.

LuBian had risen rapidly in early 2020 to grow to be the sixth-largest mining pool, selling itself as “the most secure high-yielding mining pool on the earth.”

Nevertheless, it was attacked, and over 90% of its Bitcoin was drained on December 28, 2020.

U.S. prosecutors allege Chen and his associates laundered illicit proceeds via large-scale mining operations, together with Warp Information in Laos and LuBian, which court docket filings declare “produced giant sums of fresh Bitcoin dissociated from felony proceeds.”

The DOJ’s forfeiture claims, if profitable, would mark one of many largest additions to U.S. authorities Bitcoin holdings, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent estimated in August at between $15 billion and $20 billion.

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