TechFlow News, March 11: According to a Bloomberg report, the attorney for Chen Zhi—alleged ringleader of a large-scale “pig-butchering” scam operation—filed a motion with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking dismissal of the forfeiture order against his Bitcoin holdings. The attorney argued that the prosecution’s allegations regarding Chen Zhi’s supervision of scam compounds lack specific evidence and consist only of vague generalizations about Cambodia’s overall situation. Additionally, the attorney challenged the timeline of the cryptocurrency seizure, asserting that the seized Bitcoin could not possibly constitute proceeds of fraud or money laundering.
Last October, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the forfeiture of 127,271 Bitcoin under Chen Zhi’s control, valued at approximately $15 billion at the time. Chen Zhi had his Cambodian citizenship revoked and was extradited to China in January this year. Following sanctions imposed by the United States and the United Kingdom, over $1 billion in assets were frozen or seized across Singapore, Hong Kong (China), Taiwan, and South Korea. Human rights organizations have noted that, following the closure of scam compounds, thousands of trafficked workers fled from areas such as Sihanoukville, facing renewed risks of re-trafficking.
