The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the newly named targets "support the business network of Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization." In a statement, OFAC said Prince Group-linked actors "have targeted victims in the United States and around the world through sophisticated cyber-enabled fraud schemes, including digital asset investment scams, romance scams, and other online financial fraud." It described the action as targeting "the corporate and financial infrastructure that has enabled Prince Group TCO leaders to conceal assets, evade prior sanctions, and maintain access to the international financial system."
The announcement follows a US operation in October 2025, when OFAC sanctioned 146 individuals and entities linked to Prince Group, including chairman Chen Zhi, and designated the group a “transnational criminal organization,” alleging cyberfraud, human trafficking and money laundering. Treasury called that round the “largest action ever” to disrupt Southeast Asia's scamming operations.
In a parallel announcement, federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging Chen with wire fraud and money laundering, accusing him of "the construction, operation, and management of scam compounds reliant on human trafficking and modern-day slavery" and of authorising bribes to foreign officials. Chen, who served as an adviser to former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his son and successor Hun Manet, was deported to China in January after the sanctions and growing pressure from Chinese authorities, and now faces criminal charges there, including some that carry the death penalty.
A further round in June sanctioned nine individuals and 26 entities, "including TCO leadership, investors in scam compounds, and front companies." The latest designations name Qiu Yong, whom Treasury described as a "key" member of the network who controls multiple companies in Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands and served as an employee of a company controlled by Chen Zhi, and his personal assistant Zhao Mengyao, along with Cambodian nationals He Yujing and Visal Pang, who were sanctioned for holding property for, or co-directing companies with, Prince Group executive Chen Bo, named in the June round.
OFAC said those in the new round “have helped sustain Prince Group TCO's illicit global operations after the October 2025 and June 2026 designations by managing offshore corporate structures, concealing beneficial ownership, facilitating commercial activities, and providing administrative and financial services to senior Prince Group TCO executives.” US government estimates say such scams cost US citizens at least $10 billion in 2024. More than 200 individuals and entities have now been sanctioned by the US government.