"Pig-butchering" scam leader Lawyer Chen Zhi submits a motion to the U.S. court, requesting the dismissal of the government's seizure of his Bitcoin.

Gate News reports that on March 11, Chen Zhi, who is accused of leading a large-scale “pig-butchering” scam gang, filed a motion in the U.S. Federal Court in New York to dismiss the government’s seizure of a batch of Bitcoin related to him. His lawyer argued that the prosecution’s allegations of Chen Zhi overseeing scam operations lack concrete evidence and are merely vague descriptions of the overall situation in Cambodia. The lawyer also questioned the timeline of the cryptocurrency seizure, stating that these Bitcoins could not be proceeds from fraud or money laundering. The U.S. Department of Justice announced in October last year that it had seized 127,271 Bitcoins controlled by Chen Zhi, worth approximately $15 billion at the time. Chen Zhi had his nationality revoked by Cambodia and was extradited to China in January this year. Following sanctions by the U.S. and the UK, assets worth over $1 billion have been frozen or seized in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and other regions. Human rights organizations pointed out that after the scam operations were shut down, thousands of trafficked workers from Sihanoukville and other areas fled, facing the risk of being sold again.