Pig Butchering, Phone Farms, and a $15 Billion Forfeiture—Key Takeaways from the Prince Group Cybercrime Indictment

On October 14, 2025, the United States Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York announced the indictment of a corporate executive of a Cambodian-based company for wire fraud and money laundering arising out of a near decade-long “pig butchering” cybercrime scheme, alongside a corresponding civil forfeiture action seeking approximately 12,271 bitcoin—worth approximately $15 billion—that are alleged to be proceeds and instrumentalities of the scheme.  This is the largest forfeiture action in the Department of Justice’s history, and, together with the charges against the corporate executive, signals that the Department will continue to pursue corporate criminal enforcement, particularly where it involves cybercrime and cryptocurrency.