Bitcoin

Seizure of Bitcoin for Forfeiture

On October 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the seizure of 127,271 bitcoins worth over $15 billion. The DOJ reported this seizure to be the largest monetary seizure in the history of the agency. The previous record for the largest monetary seizure was from the Bitfinex hack in 2022 for $3.6 billion.

The assets were seized because of their alleged connection to Chen Zhi, also known as “Vincent,” the head of Prince Holding Group and his Chinese-Cambodian conglomerate accused of conducting a massive amount of frauds involving cryptocurrency and money laundering.

This seizure raises the total U.S. reserves of cryptocurrency to 325,292 $BTC (worth $36 billion). The DOJ hopes to put those funds into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in compliance with President Trump’s dated March 2025. One would hope that at least some of those funds make it back to the victims, but the DOJ is less than transparent on how victims are compensated.

Many victim, even those who filed claims and cooperated with law enforcement, might not even know to make a claim or they might miss a deadline. The notice of seizure for the Chen Zhi case requires any person claiming a legal interest in the Defendant Property must file a verified Claim with the court within 60 days from the first day of publication (October 16, 2025). That 60 day deadline runs on December 15, 2025.

Attorney for Seizures of Bitcoin

If your Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency was seized for a forfeiture proceeding in the United States, contact an experienced attorney at Sammis Law Firm.

We can help you understand the process to file a claim for court action with the seizing agency, or a judicial claim with the court. Contact us to learn more about the pros and cons of filing a petition for remission or mitigation.

Our civil asset forfeiture attorneys, Jason Sammis and Leslie Sammis, help clients recover seized Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, in administrative and judicial asset forfeiture proceedings throughout the United States.

Call 813-250-0500 for more information.

Notice of Seizure for the Chen Zhi – Prince Holding Group

What does the notice say?

USAO OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION POSTED ON NOVEMBER 12, 2025

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK COURT

CASE NUMBER: CV-25-5745;

NOTICE OF FORFEITURE ACTION

Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 981, the United States filed a verified Complaint for Forfeiture against the following property: all right, title, and interest in approximately 127,271 Bitcoin (“BTC”) previously stored at the virtual currency addresses listed below, and all proceeds traceable thereto (24-FBI-009674):

(a) 20,452.85228 BTC at address 3Pja5FPK1wFB9LkWWJai8XYL1qjbqqT9Ye;

(b) 14,111.92546835 BTC at address 3FrM1He2ZDbsSKmYpEZQNGjFTLMgCZZkaf;

(d) 1,000.08105870 BTC at address 3JJ8b7voMPSPChHazdHkrZMqxC7Cb4vNk2;

(e) 0.00736862 BTC at address 3PWNGS2357TnjRX7FpewqR3e3qsWwpFrJH;

(f) 14,139.260 BTC at address 34Jpa4Eu3ApoPVUKNTN2WeuXVVq1jzxgPi;

(g) 9,099.01146835 BTC at address 338uPVW8drux5gSemDS4gFLSGrSfAiEvpX;

(h) 499.90936500 BTC at address 3J4sTPyD1g6KvNUSJxjwLs4iaPeDPqxUZr;

(i) 3,000.09125022 BTC at address 33uEsaGLcF9H46Dvzx1kMnuMCQ13ndkAjV;

(j) 9,500.99220072 BTC at address 3KabDvdetZXDHNm9HXowLc9SppiSXKn7UU;

(k) 15,033.29416267 BTC at address 38Md7BghVmV7XUUT1Vt9CvVcc5ssMD6ojt;

(l) 0.02415042 BTC at address 3GaB3nRWA1PLc3XQkkbpVtFwYYZEuMxD4i;

(m) 3,000.09118974 BTC at address 32i6n2vXhjvJg1vniURFy7A5VK6eG6oDgg;

(n) 4,500.00841044 BTC at address 3HuUiXmKN3beQSoM97kWjK1fesWWJvKvaZ;

(o) 0.5084661 BTC at address 34MFtk9iMxYcUPZWXHfiGfqz4o7X3kpJbV;

(p) 156.04996844 BTC at address 3LjTXe31gepN8nW3AZyKpyD2QwbtmfjNwm;

(q) 2,700.44863780 BTC at address 3MHa8JJ3bu8j3x3iQHhqsrZvk1EjBQmC78;

(r) 10,500.04293955 BTC at address 3AWpzKtkHfWsiv9RGXKA3Z8951LefsUGXQ;

(s) 4,500.00941044 BTC at address 34KYo7VdVr5CJ7m4hYhH9RpwqXhbsTrw4T;

(t) 251.6000482 BTC at address 3DdFSGcXaP2rZ9CaL3tjnqRARvQ5K3VW4a;

(u) 212.5930613 BTC at address 39B6oSa58qNpFMGpuowtRHAYp3fM4ghXRq;

(v) 8,611.07446862 BTC at address 3NmHmQte2rP8pS54U3B8LPYQKkpG1pFF69;

(w) 2.16989588 BTC at address BA3PEF4BMoy9y3kdMRUdMhL8Gp24vikhF;

(x) 1,500.01255361 BTC at address 389JrNcn8trYgYi2EtHi4X7bTCqtVbep86; and

(y) 1,500.00 BTC at address 339khCuymVi4FKbW9hCHkH3CQwdopXiTvA.

Any person claiming a legal interest in the Defendant Property must file a verified Claim with the court within 60 days from the first day of publication (October 16, 2025) of this Notice on this official government internet web site and an Answer to the complaint or motion under Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure within 21 days thereafter.

18 U.S.C. § 983(h)(1) permits a court to impose a civil fine on anyone asserting an interest in property which the court determines was frivolous.

The verified Claim and Answer must be filed with the Clerk of the Court, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, NY 11201, and copies of each served upon Assistant United States Attorney Tanisha Payne, 271 Cadman Plaza East, 7th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201, or default and forfeiture will be ordered. See, 18 U.S.C. § 983(a)(4)(A) and Rule G(5) of the Supplemental Rules for Admiralty or Maritime Claims and Asset Forfeiture Actions.

The government may also consider granting petitions for remission or mitigation, which pardon all or part of the property from the forfeiture. A petition must include:

a description of your interest in the property supported by documentation;
include any facts you believe justify the return of the property; and
be signed under oath, subject to the penalty of perjury, or
meet the requirements of an unsworn statement under penalty of perjury.

See 28 U.S.C. Section 1746.

For the regulations pertaining to remission or mitigation of the forfeiture, see 28 C.F.R. Sections 9.1 – 9.9. The criteria for remission of the forfeiture are found at 28 C.F.R. Section 9.5(a). The criteria for mitigation of the forfeiture are found at 28 C.F.R. Section 9.5(b).

The petition need not be made in any particular form and may be filed online or in writing. You should file a petition not later than 11:59 PM EST 30 days after the date of final publication of this notice. See 28 C.F.R. Section 9.3(a).

The https://www.forfeiture.gov/FilingPetition.htm website provides access to a standard petition form that may be mailed and the link to file a petition online. If you cannot find the desired assets online, you must file your petition in writing by sending it to Assistant United States Attorney Tanisha Payne, 271 Cadman Plaza East, 7th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201.

This website provides answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about filing a petition. You may file both a verified claim with the court and a petition for remission or mitigation.

What is Bitcoin?

In a Bitcoin transaction, Bitcoin (BTC), the native cryptocurrency on the Bitcoin blockchain, is sent from one or more Bitcoin addresses to one or more Bitcoin addresses. A Bitcoin address is represented by 25 to 35 character-long string of letters and numbers. Bitcoin addresses are also controlled by a private key which allows only the holder to authorize transactions from Bitcoin addresses. Bitcoin users can operate multiple addresses at any given time, with the possibility of using a unique Bitcoin address for each transaction.

How is Bitcoin Sent or Received?

To transfer Bitcoin to another address, the sender transmits a transaction announcement, which is cryptographically signed with the sender’s private key, across the Bitcoin peer-to-peer network, respectively. In general, the amount of cryptocurrency to be sent, the address of the receiving party, and the sender’s private key are the only pieces of information needed to complete the transaction; therefore, a Bitcoin address by itself rarely reflects any identifying information.

As a result, little-to-no personally identifiable information about the sender or recipient is transmitted in the transaction itself. Once the sender’s transaction announcement is verified by the network, the transaction is added to the Bitcoin blockchain. The Bitcoin blockchain logs every Bitcoin address that has ever been involved in a transaction and maintain records of every transaction for each Bitcoin address.

This article was last updated on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.