The department charged a man named Chen Zhi in the Eastern District of New York, stating that it seized 127,271 bitcoin worth about $15 billion. The charges include money laundering and wire fraud and are tied to a "pig butchering" scheme in Cambodia. Pig butchering schemes are a particular type of fraud in which a criminal builds a rapport with the victim, getting them to send cash or crypto before disappearing with their money. A study last year said pig butchering scams had netted $75 billion for criminals. A study from Chainalysis said that AI tools boosted revenue from crypto scams to record levels last year, with many criminals utilizing AI to create fake identities and evade verification controls.