Original report published by Decrypt on November 7, 2026, at 01:42:31 (UTC+08:00).
The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against four individuals and 41 entities it says supported Prince Group, the Cambodian conglomerate accused of operating scam compounds where trafficked workers are forced to carry out cryptocurrency investment and romance fraud.
The designations, announced on Thursday by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), targeted offshore companies, nominee owners and administrators allegedly used to conceal executives’ assets and evade sanctions imposed in October 2025 and June 2026. Prince Group has denied the allegations.
“Cyber scam syndicates continue to steal billions of dollars from American victims while relying on sophisticated international business networks to launder their illicit proceeds,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
Who the sanctions targeted
Among those designated was Qiu Yong, whom Treasury accused of controlling British Virgin Islands and Hong Kong companies on Prince Group’s behalf, including money lenders and wine businesses. Treasury said Qiu had also worked for a company controlled by Prince Group chairman Chen Zhi. His personal assistant, Zhao Mengyao, was sanctioned as well.
OFAC also targeted two people it said held property for, or operated companies with, Prince Group executive Chen Bo, who was sanctioned in June 2026:
- He Yujing, Chen Bo’s wife, received ownership of his Tokyo mansion after the October 2025 sanctions, according to Treasury.
- Visal Pang, an associate, controls 11 Cambodian companies operating across construction, logistics, a hotel and a “super app,” Treasury said.
Eleven companies still controlled by Chen Bo were also sanctioned, including Prince International Airlines and CB General Insurance.
Additional designations covered entities in Singapore, Mauritius and Malaysia linked to Prince Group associate Dai An, along with a Singapore media company owned by alleged Prince Group finance chief Thet Li.
Separately, OFAC designated Chui Kok Wa, a Malaysian national based in Madagascar. Treasury alleged that he led a scam network that used cryptocurrency and other technologies to defraud Americans of more than $400,000.
Earlier enforcement actions
The United States is seeking forfeiture of approximately $14 billion in Bitcoin tied to Prince Group. Decrypt reported in October 2026 that UK authorities had frozen Thet Li’s London penthouse.
According to BBC reporting cited by Decrypt, Chen Zhi was arrested in Cambodia in January 2026 alongside two other Chinese nationals and extradited to China. Chinese state media described him as the head of a major cross-border gambling and fraud syndicate. Cambodia had revoked his citizenship the previous month and also placed Prince Bank into liquidation.
Treasury said Thursday’s action was coordinated with the FBI, the Justice Department’s Scam Center Strike Force and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska, with assistance from authorities in the British Virgin Islands and the UK. The strike force had reported $580 million in cryptocurrency seizures and freezes.
The wider scam-compound problem
Interpol declared scam-compound networks a global threat in 2025, citing human trafficking, online fraud and coerced labor.
In September 2026, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network linked approximately $12.7 billion in reported financial activity to suspected cryptocurrency investment scams, largely run by criminal organizations operating compounds in Southeast Asia.
A July 2026 estimate from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime put victims’ losses from scam operations across East and Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand at $88.3 billion to $114.1 billion in 2025. Much of that involved cryptocurrency investment fraud run from compounds holding people from at least 80 countries.