The US government has seized over $14bn (£10.5bn) in bitcoin and charged the founder of a Cambodian business empire with allegedly masterminding a massive cryptocurrency scam.
UK and Cambodian national Chen Zhi was charged on Tuesday in New York for allegedly engaging in a wire-fraud conspiracy and running a money laundering scheme.
Mr Chen's businesses were sanctioned by the US and the UK as part of a joint operation. The UK government says it has frozen assets owned by his network, including 19 properties in London - one of which is worth nearly £100m ($133m).
US prosecutors say it is one the biggest financial takedowns in history and the largest ever seizure of bitcoin, with approximately 127,271 bitcoin being held by US government.
Mr Chen, who remains at large, is accused of being the mastermind behind a sprawling cyber-fraud empire operating under his multi-national company, the Prince Group, said the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
The Cambodia-based group's website says its businesses include property development, and financial and consumer services. But the DOJ alleges that it runs one of Asia's largest transnational criminal organisations.
Unwitting victims were contacted online and convinced to transfer cryptocurrency based on false promises that the funds would be invested and generate profits, the DOJ said.
Prosecutors alleged that the company, under Mr Chen's direction, built and operated at least ten scam compounds throughout Cambodia, according to court documents seen by the BBC.
Two of these facilities had 1,250 mobile phones that controlled around 76,000 social media accounts for scams, the documents said.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A Eisenberg described the Prince Group as a criminal enterprise built on human suffering.
It also trafficked workers, who were confined in prison-like compounds and forced to carry out scams online, targeting thousands of victims worldwide, he said.
If convicted, Mr Chen faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in jail.
In Britain, Mr Chen and his accomplices allegedly incorporated businesses in the British Virgin Islands and invested in UK property. Being sanctioned means he is now locked out of the UK's financial system.
The foreign office said Mr Chen and the Prince Group built casinos and compounds used as scam centres and laundered the proceeds.
Fraud Minister Lord Hanson said: Fraudsters prey on the most vulnerable by stealing life savings, ruining trust, and devastating lives. We will not tolerate this.
