5 Chinese Bosses Who Scammed Americans Out of Tens of Billions
By Goldsea Staff | 07 Jan, 2026

Americans are among the biggest victims of romance, investment and impersonation rackets executed from scam farms in lawless regions of Southeast Asia.

A vast industry based in Southeast Asia has siphoned tens of billions of dollars from American households,   The operations were built over the past decade by Chinese crime bosses in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and the Philippines.  These scam farms industrialized fraud on a scale never seen before.  Using romance scams, fake crypto investments, pig-butchering schemes, and impersonation fraud, they exploited digital platforms, weak governance, and vulnerable labor to extract wealth from victims thousands of miles away.

This wave of fraud differs from earlier eras in its massive financial impact and materful organization.  These aren't lone hackers or small rings but vertically integrated enterprises with headquarters, training manuals, KPIs, customer relationship management software, bribed officials and armed guards.  

Orchestrating it all from on high are a handful of Chinese bosses who combined triad networks, capital flight, and offshore safe havens to build scam empires rivaling mid-sized corporations.

Below are five of the most prominent figures whose operations contributed to American losses measured not in millions, but in tens of billions of dollars,  according to US law enforcement estimates, court filings, and international investigations.

1. She Zhijiang

She Zhijiang is the single most emblematic figure of the Southeast Asian scam economy. A Chinese national who later obtained Cambodian citizenship, She built a sprawling criminal-commercial empire centered on online gambling, money laundering, and telecom fraud. His operations stretched across Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Philippines, often under the guise of licensed casinos or special economic zones.

Investigators say She’s companies hosted thousands of scammers targeting Americans with fake investment platforms, romance scams, and impersonation schemes. These compounds functioned like factories: recruits were trained with scripts tailored to American retirees, professionals, and small business owners. Losses linked to networks associated with She are estimated by US authorities to be in the tens of billions over several years.

She was arrested in Thailand in 2022 at China’s request, but his case also exposed a deeper problem: his businesses operated openly for years with local political protection, underscoring how scam bosses embedded themselves into Southeast Asia’s political economy.

2. Wan Kuok Koi

Known as “Broken Tooth,” Wan Kuok Koi rose to notoriety decades earlier as a Macau triad leader, but reinvented himself in the 2010s as a businessman and political influencer tied to China’s Belt and Road orbit. Behind that respectable façade, allege US authorities, Wan orchestrated criminal networks spanning casinos, online gambling, and scam operations across Cambodia and Myanmar.

American victims were often funneled into fake crypto and forex platforms run out of compounds linked to Wan’s associates. These scams were sophisticated, involving long grooming periods and fake dashboards showing fabricated profits. By the time victims attempted withdrawals, their funds had vanished through laundering channels connected to junket operators and shell companies.

Wan was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2020, but his networks continued to operate through proxies. Analysts estimate that scam operations tied to his broader ecosystem accounted for billions in US losses alone.

3. Chen Zhi

Less publicly famous but highly influential, Chen Zhi built his fortune through online gambling platforms that later pivoted aggressively into scam operations. Based primarily in Cambodia, Chen controlled multiple compounds near Sihanoukville that housed thousands of trafficked workers forced to scam foreigners.

American victims were heavily targeted through social media and dating apps. Chen’s teams specialized in pig-butchering scams, in which victims were emotionally cultivated over weeks or months before being lured into fake crypto investments. The psychological sophistication of these operations led to unusually high per-victim losses, often exceeding $100,000.

U.S. investigators tracing blockchain flows have linked wallets associated with Chen’s networks to billions in stolen funds, much of it laundered through crypto exchanges, underground banks, and real estate purchases across Asia.

4. Zhao Wei

Zhao Wei, a Chinese businessman operating in Laos, ran the notorious Kings Romans Casino and surrounding special economic zone along the Mekong River. Marketed as a luxury tourism hub, the zone became, according to U.S. authorities, a haven for money laundering, human trafficking, drug trade, and large-scale online scams.

Within Zhao’s territory, scam farms operated with near-total impunity. Americans were targeted with IRS impersonation scams, tech support fraud, and investment schemes, often routed through VoIP systems that masked the true origin of calls and messages. The geographic isolation of the zone, combined with Zhao’s control over local security, made enforcement nearly impossible.

Zhao was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2018, but losses attributed to operations linked to his enclave continued well into the 2020s, contributing billions more to the overall toll on American victims.

5. Hu Rong

Hu Rong represents a newer generation of scam bosses who leaned heavily into cryptocurrency and AI-assisted fraud. Operating primarily out of northern Myanmar and Cambodia, Hu oversaw networks that blended romance scams with fake DeFi platforms, NFT projects, and mining schemes marketed directly to US consumers.

What set Hu’s operations apart was scale and automation. Victims were segmented using data analytics, with scripts optimized for age, profession, and emotional profile. Call centers ran around the clock, while crypto laundering pipelines rapidly moved funds across chains to evade detection.

Cybercrime analysts estimate that Hu’s networks alone may have drained several billion dollars from Americans in just a few years, particularly during the 2021–2023 crypto boom, when trust in digital assets made victims more susceptible.

Ruined Lives

Behind the staggering dollar figures lies a human tragedy on both ends. American victims often lost life savings, retirement funds, or college tuition money, with many experiencing depression, bankruptcy, or worse. On the other side, scam farms relied heavily on trafficked workers from China, Southeast Asia, and Africa, many of whom were coerced through violence or debt bondage into defrauding strangers.

Together, the five bosses profiled here illustrate how modern organized crime has fused globalization, digital platforms, and weak regional governance into an extraordinarily effective machine. Tens of billions of dollars flowed out of the United States not through traditional trade deficits or market crashes, but through whispered messages, fake dashboards, and carefully scripted lies.

As US authorities scramble to respond with sanctions, indictments, and diplomatic pressure, one reality remains clear: until the political protection and financial enablers in Southeast Asia are dismantled, the scam economy these men helped build will continue to find new bosses, new compounds, and new American victims.