• UK and US have sanctioned a major Southeast Asian scam network exploiting trafficked workers.
• The Prince Group network is accused of operating forced-labour camps in Cambodia and Myanmar.
• Seizure of $14.2 billion worth of Bitcoin is one of the largest forfeiture actions in US history.
• The scams include luring victims into counterfeit romantic relationships to invest in fraudulent schemes.
• Authorities indicate approximately 100,000 people are being forced into online scams across the region.

On October 10, the United Kingdom and United States unveiled sweeping sanctions against a Southeast Asia-based crime network known for operating expansive "scam centres" in Cambodia and Myanmar, reportedly using trafficked workers to carry out fraud on a global scale. These centres exploited vulnerable individuals, using deceptive job advertisements that lured them into fake romantic relationships, then coerced them to invest money into fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes under threat of torture, according to SCMP, TRT, and Al Jazeera.

The US Treasury Department characterized this action as the largest targeting of such networks in Southeast Asia, focusing on 146 individuals affiliated with the Prince Group, designated as a transnational criminal organization. The UK further targeted six entities connected to the group, including its chair, Chen Zhi, freezing assets linked to over £100 million in London properties, as stated by TRT and Al Jazeera.

Chen Zhi was indicted on charges of wire fraud and money laundering, facing potential prison time of up to 40 years if convicted. It is alleged that Chen orchestrated forced-labour camps where trafficked workers—the majority from China—were held against their will to perpetrate online fraud and launder the proceeds through various channels, including cryptocurrency and gambling platforms, as reported by SCMP, TRT, and Al Jazeera.

Authorities revealed that they have seized around 127,271 bitcoin—valued at approximately $14.2 billion—traced back to these scams, marking it as one of the largest forfeiture actions in the history of the US Justice Department. The significant scale of this operation has prompted comments from legal experts about its potential impact on the broader landscape of human trafficking and online fraud, highlighting a growing international concern, according to SCMP and Al Jazeera.