$14 billion worth of Bitcoin has been seized in the US-British crackdown on alleged fraudsters

The US government has seized more than $14bn (£10.5bn) worth of bitcoin and accused the founder of a Cambodian business empire of masterminding a massive cryptocurrency scam.

British and Cambodian national Chin Chee was charged Tuesday in New York for allegedly being involved in a wire fraud conspiracy and running a money laundering scheme.

Sanctions were imposed on Chen’s actions by the US and 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 around £100 million ($133 million).

The BBC has contacted Prince Holdings for comment. An email sent to the General Inquiry address was returned undelivered.

US prosecutors say it is one of the largest financial takedowns in history and the largest bitcoin seizure ever, with the US government holding approximately 127,271 bitcoins.

Chen, who remains at large, is accused of being the mastermind behind the “sprawling cyber fraud empire” operating under his multinational company, the Prince Group, he said. US Department of Justice (DOJ).

The Cambodia-based group’s website says its business includes real estate development, financial and consumer services. But the Justice Department claims it runs one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organizations.

The Justice Department said the unintended victims were contacted online and persuaded to transfer cryptocurrencies based on false promises of investing the money and making profits.

Prosecutors alleged that the company, under Chen’s supervision, built and operated at least ten fraudulent complexes across Cambodia, according to court documents seen by the BBC.

Mr. Chen is accused of running the pools and tracking profits from the scams, prosecutors said.

His associates allegedly purchased millions of cell phone numbers and set up “phone farms” to conduct call center scams, according to court documents..

Two of those facilities had 1,250 cell phones controlling about 76,000 social media accounts for the scams, the documents said.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg described Prince’s group as a “criminal enterprise built on human suffering.”

He added that it also trafficks workers, who are detained in prison-like compounds and forced to carry out online scams, targeting thousands of victims around the world.

The Justice Department said Chen and his accomplices used the criminal proceeds for luxury travel and entertainment.

They also made “expensive” purchases such as watches, private planes and rare artworks, including purchasing paintings by Picasso from an auction house in New York City, the department said.

If convicted, Chen faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.

In Britain, Chen and his partners allegedly set up companies in the British Virgin Islands and invested in real estate in the United Kingdom. He said his network’s assets include a £100m office building in central London, a £12m mansion in north London and seventeen apartments in the city. British Foreign Office on Tuesday.

The imposition of sanctions on him, as part of a joint operation with US authorities, means that he is now denied access to the UK financial system.

Prince’s group was also sanctioned in the United States and classified as a criminal organization.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said they were “ruining the lives of vulnerable people and buying houses in London to store their money.”

“Together with our American allies, we are taking decisive action to combat the growing cross-border threat posed by this network – while respecting human rights, protecting British citizens and keeping dirty money off our streets,” Cooper said.

The State Department said Chen and Prince’s group built casinos and complexes used as fraud centers and laundered the proceeds.

The State Department said four companies linked to the alleged fraud — Prince Group, Jin Bai Group, Golden Fortune Resorts World, and Peaks Exchange — have also been sanctioned.

Two fraud centers allegedly run by Jin Bei Group and Golden Fortune Resorts were mentioned earlier this year in an Amnesty International report on the use of forced labor and torture in Cambodian fraud centres.

The State Department said that people who work in fraud centers are often foreign nationals who are lured by the promise of a legitimate job, then forced to carry out the scams under the threat of torture.

Fraud Minister Lord Hanson said: “Fraudsters prey on the most vulnerable by stealing life savings, destroying trust and destroying lives. We will not tolerate this.”