Alleged Names Behind Pig-Butchering Scam Syndicates Revealed

FEBRUARY 05, 2026 -The U.S., U.K., and South Korea are cracking down on transnational criminal networks behind "pig-butchering" cryptocurrency scams—a global fraud industry that has stolen over $60 billion since 2020. In this video, we look at the new Dismantle Foreign Scam Syndicates Act, H.R. 5490, and the complex web of Cambodian tycoons, trafficked labor, and Chinese criminal organizations fueling these operations highlighted in recent Kharon investigations.

Breakdown
The Legislation: How the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee is targeting 32 individuals and 11 entities involved in industrial-scale scams.
How it Works: The "fattening" and "slaughtering" phases of pig-butchering scams.
The Cambodian Connection: The web connecting the Prince Group, Senator Kok An, and Ly Yong Phat to human trafficking and money laundering.
Financial Enablers: Why the Huione Group has been cut off from the U.S. financial system.
National Security: Why these scams are major foreign policy issues.

Chapters:
0:00 - The $60 Billion Scam Industry
0:18 - The Dismantle Foreign Scam Syndicates Act
0:33 - How the scams work
0:49 - The Treasury Department sanctioned Prince Group & Chen Zhi
1:12 - Kok An’s casinos
1:25 - Kok An, Ly Yong Phat & Political Ties
1:53 - South Korea sanctions Huione Group

#PigButcheringScam #CryptoScam #Cambodia

IN CONTEXT:
The U.S., U.K. and South Korea are ramping up action against the criminal networks behind a wave of cyberscams that have drained more than $60 billion from victims around the world since 2020. And Congress is naming names.

The Dismantle Foreign Scam Syndicates Act, which was introduced in September and passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee last month, identifies 32 individuals and 11 entities for mandatory sanctions review over their alleged roles in Southeast Asian “pig-butchering” scams.
That term is Chinese criminal slang, describing how scammers build fake relationships over weeks or months before persuading victims to invest in fraudulent cryptocurrency platforms. Victims are emotionally “fattened” and then financially “slaughtered,” often losing their life savings.

The House bill describes these operations as “joint ventures between Chinese criminal organizations and autocratic governments” in Southeast Asian countries where, it says, “transparency is absent and rule of law is anemic.”

Even before its passage, the House bill appears to offer the U.S. a roadmap for targeting these scams’ internationally connected alleged kingpins. The Treasury Department already has sanctioned seven individuals and five entities on the bill’s list, most prominently the Prince Group and its chairman, Chen Zhi. Chen, a Chinese national whom Cambodia extradited to China last week, had used his influence with Chinese officials prior to his designation in order “to protect the [Prince Group’s] scam operations from law enforcement in multiple countries,” a U.S. indictment says.

Tracing the family, corporate and physical ties of those named in the House bill, a Kharon investigation shows how Cambodia’s cyberscam apparatus weaves together the country’s political elite, casino operators and Chinese criminal partners.

Cambodia’s Casino Senator
Kok An, one of the 25 individuals named in the bill who has not been targeted by sanctions, operates at the nexus of political power and the infrastructure that pig-butchering scams commonly rely on.
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📑 About Kharon:
Kharon provides industry-leading data and analysis on global security threats, sanctions, and trade records. We help organizations navigate the complex world of international commerce and regulatory risk.

Read more from the Kharon Brief on export controls, military end use (MEU), sanctions evasion, and investment and securities:
https://www.kharon.com/brief

Some additional sources we looked to for this report
Thai PBS, Who is "Chen Zhi," the founder of the Prince Group empire? | Thai PBS Summary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHrl-5i6pCs

Thai PBS, Red Notice for "Luk Kok An": Will Cambodia arrest him? | World News Brief | 11 Oct. 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maVd-wet8g0

Cambodia's Prince Group: A business empire built on crime? | Radio Free Asia (RFA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTPoYMqPM9g

Cambodia targets workers in crackdown on scam call centers | Radio Free Asia (RFA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8C_UCRuDVE

House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearings and Meetings
https://www.congress.gov/committees/video/house-foreign-affairs/hsfa00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2uhmWXFjvc
Read more on cybercrime from The Brief:

Supercharged by AI, Scammers Became Crypto’s ‘Dominant Illicit-Finance Threat’
https://www.kharon.com/brief/kharon-debrief-2025-crypto-online-scams-ai-trm-labs-ari-redbord

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