The FBI on September 22, 2026, announced the results of Operation Blackout, an international crackdown on crypto investment scam networks tied to forced-labour compounds, mostly in Southeast Asia. The bureau said the effort involved more than 20 countries and led to the closure of more than 500 fraudulent sites, alongside warnings sent to over 10,000 US citizens identified as potential victims, which the FBI estimates prevented roughly $500 million in further losses.
For a European audience following the growing intersection of crypto fraud enforcement and forced-labour scam centres, the operation's headline number is the one worth scrutinising. The FBI attached a figure of more than $15 billion in assets and cryptocurrencies linked to Operation Blackout. But the overwhelming majority of that sum traces back to a single civil forfeiture case rather than money clawed back across the hundreds of shuttered sites.
The Chen Zhi case behind the number
On October 14, 2025, the US Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit targeting approximately 127,271 bitcoin, valued at about $15 billion at the time the filing was made. The case centres on Chen Zhi, founder of Prince Holding Group, who is accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Prince Holding Group operated centres in Cambodia that authorities link to the forced-labour scam networks Operation Blackout targeted.
The bitcoin in question is already under US government custody and remains there pending the judicial process. In other words, the $15 billion is not money that has been recovered and returned to victims. It is largely the value assigned to one bitcoin holding at the moment the forfeiture lawsuit was filed, a valuation that reflects market price at that date rather than a completed restitution process.
Scale of the underlying fraud
The scale of losses that Operation Blackout is responding to is substantial on its own terms. The FBI reported more than $5.8 billion in crypto investment fraud losses in 2024 alone, a figure that underscores why forced-labour scam compounds in Southeast Asia have drawn sustained cross-border investigative attention. The 500-plus sites shut down and the warnings issued to thousands of potential victims represent the operational side of that response.
What remains unresolved is the judicial outcome of the Chen Zhi forfeiture case itself, which will determine whether and how the seized bitcoin is eventually distributed. Until that process concludes, the $15 billion figure attached to Operation Blackout functions more as a snapshot of assets under legal dispute than as a tally of funds already returned to those defrauded.
