US adds sanctions against accused Cambodian scammers Prince Group

The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on nine individuals and 26 entities linked to the Prince Group, citing cybertheft and scam operations targeting Americans in Southeast Asia.

The United States issued sanctions on Tuesday against nine people and 26 entities linked to the Prince Group, citing cybertheft and scam operations originating in Southeast Asia that target ‌Americans.

The action builds on the Treasury Department's 2025 designation of the Cambodian conglomerate, which has interests in everything from real estate to banking and airlines. "Scam centers in Southeast Asia steal billions of dollars from American victims each year," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

Southeast Asia-based transnational criminal organizations target Americans through large-scale cyber fraud ‌and scam operations, Treasury said. "A U.S. government estimate reported that Americans lost at least $10 billion in 2024 to Southeast Asia-based scam operations, a 66 percent increase ‌over the prior year," it said in a statement.

Treasury said its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed changing its 2025 Huione Group Final Rule to include HPay Service PLC and any successor entity. Treasury said one of the most common and lucrative schemes involves digital asset investment fraud. The Huione Group has been critical in laundering proceeds of cyber heists and virtual currency investment scams, and was ⁠used by the ​Prince Group for proceeds from its ⁠scams, Treasury said.

In a concurrent action, the U.S. Justice Department said it seized a cloud computing account used by subsidiaries of the Huione Group, also based in Cambodia. The subsidiaries helped transfer proceeds from ⁠cryptocurrency investment frauds and cyber scams into the legitimate banking sector, the department said. “The Huione Group used this cloud computing account as part of a technological backbone that allowed billions ​in fraud proceeds to be transferred, moved, and concealed — much of it stolen through Southeast Asian scam centers," the Justice Department said in a statement.

The ⁠Justice Department said the seized account helped operate Huione Guarantee, also known as Haowang Guarantee, which is accused of using channels on the social media site Telegram for discussions about illegal activities, from ⁠the ​sale of stolen credit cards and identity information to human trafficking. The activities also included laundering proceeds from romance and investment scams, it said. Among the individuals targeted in the Treasury sanctions were Hu Xiaowei, who authorities said has been described as the Prince Group's second-in-command and "big brother" to its leader, Chen Zhi, who ⁠was sanctioned in 2025. Treasury said Hu controls three companies in the British Virgin Islands: Eagle Fortitude Limited, Leisure Focus Limited, and Future King Inc. Through the latter, ⁠he owns a large network of ⁠companies used to manage funds and properties, the department said.

Chen Zhi was arrested and extradited to China in January after a joint U.S.-China investigation into transnational crime. Beijing had been probing Prince Group since 2020 and has a close relationship with ‌Cambodia. The Prince Group and ‌Huione could not immediately be reached for comment.