Singapore Freezes $150M in Assets Tied to Alleged Bitcoin Fraud Kingpin
The Singapore police have taken significant action against alleged Bitcoin fraud kingpin Chen Zhi, freezing over S$150 million (approximately $106 million) in assets linked to him. This move is part of a coordinated international enforcement effort that began in mid-October, with U.S. and UK authorities announcing criminal indictments against Chen and moving to confiscate approximately $14.4 billion worth of Bitcoin tied to a sophisticated transnational fraud operation.
According to Caixin, the action targets six properties, bank accounts, securities holdings, cash, a yacht, 11 vehicles, and numerous bottles of alcohol owned by Chen and his associates, who are currently not in Singapore. The seizure is a significant step in the global response to the alleged fraud operation, which has been described as one of Asia’s most sophisticated transnational fraud operations.
From Mining Empire to Criminal Network
Chen founded Prince Holding Group in 2015, operating in real estate, finance, and hospitality across more than 30 countries. However, federal prosecutors allege that the conglomerate evolved into a criminal enterprise that lured thousands of workers to Cambodia with false job offers, then trapped them in heavily guarded compounds where they were forced to run “pig butchering” scams. These long-term online fraud schemes target victims by grooming them before tricking them into fake crypto trading platforms.
U.S. court documents reveal that the network laundered stolen proceeds through more than 100 shell companies worldwide, routing funds through crypto exchanges and mining operations before converting them into Bitcoin. Between May 2021 and August 2022, investigators traced at least $18 million from over 250 U.S. victims through entities operating in Brooklyn and Queens, representing just a fraction of the billions channeled back to Cambodia.
Dormant Bitcoin Stirs Fresh Mystery
Just 24 hours after the DOJ announcement, a wallet linked to the Chinese mining pool LuBian, previously connected to Chen’s operations, transferred 11,886 BTC, worth approximately $1.3 billion, after more than three years of dormancy. One week later, the same entity moved an additional 15,959 BTC, valued at $1.83 billion, to four different addresses, sparking speculation about whether the transfers were for defensive repositioning or strategic reallocation.
Arkham Intelligence revealed in August that 127,426 BTC, now worth approximately $14.5 billion, was stolen from LuBian in December 2020 through vulnerabilities in its private key generation system. The pool vanished by February 2021 without explanation, having lost over 90% of its holdings, with most coins remaining dormant until July 2024.
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