The mysterious ‘scam empire’ owner accused of stealing $14bn in crypto
Jonathan HeadSouth East Asia correspondent
Prince Group/Getty imagesJust 37 years old, Chen Zhi is accused of being “the mastermind behind a sprawling cyber-fraud empire… a criminal enterprise built on human suffering”.
With his wispy goatee beard and baby-faced features, he looks even younger than he is. He has certainly become very wealthy, very quickly.
Last week the US Department of Justice charged him with running scam compounds in Cambodia that stole billions in cryptocurrency from victims all over the world. The US Treasury Department has confiscated more than $14bn (£10.5bn) worth of bitcoin that it says is linked to him – it said this was the largest ever crypto-currency seizure.
His own company, the Cambodian Prince Group,…
