On Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York indicted Chen Zhi, age 38, accusing him of running a criminal syndicate spanning more than 30 countries and engaging in large-scale fraud and money laundering.
Six days later, on Oct. 14, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the confiscation of 127,271 Bitcoins under Chen’s name—worth roughly US$15 billion, marking the largest single asset seizure in U.S. judicial history. At the same time, the UK government froze 19 properties linked to Chen in London.
From a poor village to a global tycoon
Who is Chen Zhi?
Born in December 1987 in a small village in Lianjiang County, Fujian Province, Chen was described by former classmates and neighbors as short in stature (about 1.6 meters) and poorly educated, having dropped out after his second year of middle school.
He later worked as a network administrator at a small Shanghai internet café, where he made his first fortune by running illegal “private servers” for online games—pirated versions where players could buy virtual items with cash. The practice violated copyright laws and was punishable as a criminal offense.
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In 2009, when one of his operations was exposed, Chen fled to Cambodia, where he began building his commercial empire.
In 2015, at just 27 years old, Chen founded the Prince Group, focusing on real estate development.
By 2018, he had obtained a commercial banking license and established Prince Bank.
In 2020, he received Cambodia’s highest royal honor, the Neak Oknha title, awarded to donors contributing at least US$500,000 to the state.
That same year, Chen obtained authorization for his fourth airline, expanded luxury projects in Phnom Penh, and owned five-star hotels in Sihanoukville.
The Prince Group soon expanded across 30 countries, running dozens of companies. Publicly, it focused on real estate, finance, and consumer services
Privately, prosecutors allege it was the facade for a transnational crime organization—engaged in human trafficking, cyber fraud, and large-scale money laundering through crypto exchanges and mining pools.
The ‘pig butchering’ empire
According to the U.S. indictment, Chen’s network operated so-called “pig-butchering scams”—romance or investment schemes combined with forced labor.
Victims lured by fake job offers were trafficked into fraud compounds across Cambodia, where they were forced to scam others online.
Some compounds operated “phone farms” running 76,000 fake social media accounts, used to spread misinformation, target victims, or send automated scam messages.
The DOJ stated that by 2018, Chen’s operation earned US$30 million per month through these scams.
Chen’s wealth accumulated at an astonishing rate.
British authorities said that in 2019, he purchased a £12 million mansion in North London and a £95 million office tower in the City of London.
U.S. officials added that he and his associates acquired real estate in New York, private jets, superyachts, and even a Picasso painting.
His wife, a Sichuan-born former livestreamer known online as Eva, flaunted their lavish lifestyle
In 2023, social media users identified her as the influencer who had once gone viral for her extreme displays of wealth—revealing the family’s hidden identity.
On Xiaohongshu, Eva once posted a photo captioned: “The biggest fish tank on the entire internet—welcome to Amy’s private ocean!”
The tank, over 100 meters long, was inside her own home and filled with live sharks.
In another post, she showed a 24K gold Steinway piano shipped from London as a gift from Chen to their daughter Amy, reportedly worth over 7 million RMB (about US$1 million).
In April 2023, she shared a photo of a custom-made canopy bed costing 5 million RMB, boasting of “a year of handcrafted detail.”
According to reports, the couple owned six private jets, traveled frequently, and kept a fleet of Rolls-Royces in Cambodia—“30 percent of all Rolls-Royces on Phnom Penh’s streets,” netizens joked.
Eva’s 2023 posts stunned viewers who could not imagine such wealth. Only later did netizens realize her husband was Chen Zhi, the powerful founder of Prince Group.
Public image vs. dark reality
The Prince Group’s official website praised Chen as, “a respected entrepreneur and philanthropist whose vision and leadership have built a company adhering to international standards.”
In China, he was even honored with “Corporate Social Responsibility Awards.” But as one online commentator known as Heng Ge noted: “Chen Zhi was running online fraud rings while sitting as a guest of honor at elite conferences. The contrast is unbelievable.”
Analysts question whether Chen could have achieved such power alone.
A BBC Chinese report on Oct. 24 titled “Chen Zhi: The Mysterious Mastermind Behind a $14 Billion Crypto Fraud Empire” noted that Chen’s funding sources were never clear.
In one banking application in 2019, he claimed that an “uncle” had gifted him US$2 million in 2011 to start his first real estate venture—without proof.
Taiwanese financial analyst Huang Shicong argued that Chen’s empire was linked to what he called the “Fujian faction’s treasury.”
He suggested Chen might have acted as a money launderer for high-ranking Chinese officials, possibly connected to the CCP leadership.
“He’s the bookkeeper for Zhongnanhai,” Huang said. “You think scams alone could generate this much money? It’s very likely he was laundering money for senior Party members.”
Huang claimed that Chen’s downfall may signal a warning from Washington to Beijing, implying the U.S. might possess evidence connecting Chen’s operations to top CCP insiders.
“This may just be the first move,” he added. “America could expose who’s behind him next.”
‘White gloves’ for red capital
Another Chinese commentator, Lao Pan, summarized bluntly: “Every glamorous success hides untold stories.”
He noted that Chen moved to Cambodia in 2009, when the country was still recovering from the global financial crisis.
Yet within five years, Chen obtained Cambodian citizenship, and within six, he built a massive conglomerate—something “no ordinary foreign entrepreneur could do.”
Each step, Lao Pan said, defied commercial logic: How did a 20-something outsider with no background or resources secure licenses, land, and influence so easily?
Some suggest that Chen’s rise—and later, his protection—was made possible because he served as a “white glove” (proxy) for powerful Chinese political and financial interests.
Since the Oct. 14 U.S. sanctions announcement, Chen Zhi’s whereabouts remain unknown.
Once hailed as Cambodia’s most influential tycoon, he has vanished from public view.
He may be hiding abroad, continuing his luxury lifestyle in secret—but as one commentator concluded: “Justice may be delayed, but it never fails to arrive.”
