2025年10月14日，美國對東南亞最大的網路詐騙組織之一——柬埔寨太子集團（Prince Group）及其核心人物採取前所未有的制裁行動，引發全球金融與法律界高度關注。美國財政部外國資產控制辦公室（OFAC）與金融犯罪執法網絡（FinCEN）聯合宣布，針對太子集團及其董事長陳志（福建籍，1987年生）展開制裁，並凍結涉案高達150億美元的比特幣資產。同日，美國司法部對太子集團及陳志提出刑事指控，稱該集團長期運作一個橫跨東南亞乃至全球的「網路詐騙帝國」，涉及強迫勞動、電信詐騙及洗錢活動。這一金額，不僅刷新全球打擊網絡犯罪的紀錄，也象徵著加密貨幣詐騙時代的重大轉折——過去肆意膨脹的虛擬資產犯罪，開始受到擁有全球金融監管能力的國家直接控制。

此次行動的核心策略，並非立即追捕仍在逃的陳志，而是直接凍結其巨額加密貨幣資產。起訴書指出，陳志雖仍逍遙法外，但其所控制的資金必須被攔截。美國此舉既可保障受害者利益，也為政府帶來可觀的「意外收入」，體現「打擊犯罪與收回贓款兩不誤」的策略思路。在美國決定將沒收的加密貨幣作為國家戰略儲備之後，這次扣押行動更具象徵與實際意義——犯罪分子或可暫時逃脫，但透過金融系統流動的資產，無論是法幣還是加密貨幣，必須被控制。

太子集團的業務範圍極為龐雜，橫跨銀行、金融、房地產、建築、酒店、媒體、旅遊，甚至鐘錶培訓等行業，並在柬埔寨、新加坡、帕勞、台灣等地設有分支，註冊地涉及多個司法管轄區，包括柬埔寨、新加坡、中國香港、台灣、英屬維爾京群島及開曼群島。若與柬埔寨2023年的約300億美元GDP 相比，僅此次沒收的150億美元比特幣就幾乎相當於該國GDP的一半，足以顯示其非法財富的驚人規模以及與當地政治經濟深度綁定的可能性。

起訴書還指出，太子集團將詐騙所得大量投入奢侈消費，包括豪華旅行、購買名表、遊艇、私人飛機、度假別墅、高端收藏品以及稀有藝術品。其中甚至包括透過紐約一家拍賣行購得的畢加索畫作，可見這個集團的非法資金流向極其多元且奢華。這場美國針對東南亞加密貨幣與網路詐騙的打擊行動，不僅是一個犯罪集團的覆滅，更象徵全球金融監管正在加強對虛擬資產犯罪的控制，並向全球詐騙分子傳達出明確訊號：即使人可以逃走，錢絕不容流失。

On October 14, 2025, the United States took unprecedented action against one of Southeast Asia’s largest online fraud syndicates, the Cambodian Prince Group (Prince Group), drawing global attention from both financial and legal communities. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), together with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), announced sanctions against the Prince Group and its chairman, Chen Zhi (born 1987 in Fujian, China), while freezing up to $15 billion in Bitcoin assets linked to the group. On the same day, the U.S. Department of Justice filed criminal charges against the Prince Group and Chen, alleging that the organization operated a sprawling “online fraud empire” across Southeast Asia and beyond, engaging in forced labor, telecom fraud, and money laundering. The scale of the seized assets marks one of the largest-ever actions against cybercrime globally, signaling a turning point in the regulation of cryptocurrency scams—once unrestrained, virtual asset crimes are increasingly coming under the scrutiny of nations with the most sophisticated global financial oversight.

The core strategy of this action was not an immediate capture of Chen, who remains at large, but rather the direct seizure of his massive cryptocurrency holdings. According to the indictment, although Chen remains free, the assets he controls must be intercepted. This approach not only helps compensate victims but also provides the U.S. government with a substantial windfall, reflecting a dual focus on combatting crime and recovering illicit funds simultaneously. Following the U.S. decision to treat seized cryptocurrencies as part of its strategic reserve, this action carries both symbolic and practical weight: criminals may evade capture temporarily, but assets moving through the financial system—whether fiat or digital—cannot escape U.S. control.

The Prince Group’s operations are vast and highly diversified, spanning banking, finance, real estate, construction, hospitality, media, tourism, and even watchmaking training. Its personnel are spread across Cambodia, Singapore, Palau, Taiwan, and other locations, with registrations in multiple jurisdictions including Cambodia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands. To put the scale of the Prince Group into perspective, Cambodia’s GDP in 2023 was approximately $30 billion, while the value of Bitcoin seized from the group alone reached $15 billion, nearly half of the country’s GDP. The sheer size of these illicit profits underscores the potential depth of the group’s entanglement with local political and economic structures.

The indictment also details how the Prince Group spent its ill-gotten gains on luxury travel, high-end watches, yachts, private jets, vacation homes, rare collectibles, and fine art, including a Picasso painting purchased through a New York auction house. This extravagant use of fraudulent funds highlights the group’s opulent lifestyle and the global reach of its operations.

This U.S. crackdown on the Prince Group represents not merely the dismantling of a criminal syndicate but a broader statement: global financial regulators are increasingly capable of controlling crimes involving cryptocurrencies, and criminals may be able to flee, but their money cannot escape interception. It serves as a stark warning to international fraud networks that their virtual assets are vulnerable, regardless of where they operate.