Attorney Chen Zhi Files Motion in U.S. Court to Dismiss Government's Seizure of His Bitcoin

Odaily News Attorney Chen Zhi's legal team recently filed a motion in a New York federal court, requesting the dismissal of the U.S. government's seizure of a batch of Bitcoin associated with him. The lawyers argued that the prosecution's claim that Chen Zhi supervised a fraud compound lacks specific evidence and is merely a general description of the overall situation in Cambodia. They also questioned the timeline of the cryptocurrency seizure, asserting that these Bitcoins could not have originated from fraud or money laundering.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced in October last year the forfeiture of 127,271 Bitcoins controlled by Chen Zhi, valued at approximately $15 billion at the time. In January this year, Chen Zhi had his Cambodian citizenship revoked and was extradited to China. Following sanctions imposed by the United States and the United Kingdom, regions including Singapore, Hong Kong (China), Taiwan (China), and South Korea collectively froze or seized over $1 billion in related assets.