AUTHORITIES have seized more than £11.3billion worth of bitcoin and glitzy London homes as part of a crackdown on romance scam centres.
The joint UK-US operation exposed the centres in Cambodia and Myanmar that used forced labour to con international buyers out of their savings through fake romance and cryptocurrency scams.
The bitcoin sum snatched is the largest amount seized in the history of the Department of Justice.
A total of 19 luxury properties have also been grabbed by the two governments, including a £12million mansion in north London and a £100m office in the City of London.
Employees in scam centres are often foreign nationals who believe they are signing up for a legitimate job before being coerced into scamming victims under threat of torture.
If the workers successfully sway victims, the funds are then laundered using a sophisticated financial ecosystem.
Those accused of being implicated in the scams include the Prince Holding Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Cambodia, and its chairman and founder, Chen Zhi.
Through his company, Chen is said to have built casinos and compounds used as scam centres, as well as laundering the proceeds.
The sanctions will freeze these businesses and properties with immediate effect, locking Chen and his network out of the UK’s financial system.
Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The masterminds behind these horrific scam centres are ruining the lives of vulnerable people and buying up London homes to store their money.
“Together with our US allies, we are taking decisive action to combat the growing transnational threat posed by this network – upholding human rights, protecting British nationals and keeping dirty money off our streets.”
Detective Superintendent Gary Miles, from the City of London Police, in charge of investigating scams, has previously warned: “Romance fraudsters rely on the kindness and compassionate nature within us all, where highly manipulative and coercive techniques are used to exploit this for their own gain.
“Romance fraud can result in people having their hard-earned savings wiped out, in tens of thousands of pounds in debt and also, in some extreme cases, having to remortgage their homes.”
Fraud minister Lord Hanson has warned criminals that a fresh sophisticated fraud prevention project will be put into place.
He said: “Fraudsters prey on the most vulnerable by stealing life savings, ruining trust and devastating lives.
“We will not tolerate this.
“These sanctions prove our determination to stop those who profit from this activity, hold offenders accountable, and keep dirty money out of the UK.
“Through our new, expanded fraud strategy and the upcoming global fraud summit, we will go even further to disrupt corrupt networks and protect the public from shameless criminals.”
US attorney-general Pamela Bondi added: “Today’s action represents one of the most significant strikes ever against the global scourge of human trafficking and cyber-enabled financial fraud.”
