US issues more sanctions against Prince Group scam center affiliates

The Treasury Department on Thursday sanctioned dozens of people and companies tied to scam compounds in Cambodia, Madagascar and several other countries across Southeast Asia and Africa. 

The sanctions target four people and 41 companies linked to the Prince Group — a Cambodian company accused of running a billion-dollar scam operation. 

The company is accused of running hundreds of compounds in Cambodia where workers and human trafficking victims were forced to conduct cyberscams and steal billions of dollars from people in the U.S., Europe and China. Prince Group was dismantled earlier this year after its CEO was arrested and extradited to China. 

Thursday’s sanctions are aimed at the vast network of shell companies Prince Group created to continue laundering the money it has earned through scams. This is the third round of sanctions against Prince Group after the U.S. confiscated more than $15 billion in cryptocurrency from the company and its CEO Chen Zhi. 

Treasury Department officials argued that the new measures are needed because Prince Group employees have tried to evade two previous rounds of sanctions by offloading funds to shell companies, relatives or assistants in an effort to maintain access to scam funds. 

“Rather than operating through a single corporate structure, senior Prince Group TCO executives have relied on layers of offshore holding companies, foreign entities, nominee directors, and corporate service providers to maintain control over assets while obscuring beneficial ownership,” the Treasury Department said.   

“Today’s designations target key components of that network, including companies and individuals that have facilitated corporate administration, managed offshore entities, and provided business services to senior Prince Group TCO officials.”

The sanctioned include Qiu Yong, a senior Prince Group official who ran multiple shell companies in the British Virgin Islands and Hong Kong. 

Qiu, who has passports from Cambodia, St. Lucia and Turkey, helped Prince Group launder its funds through an array of money lending services and business ventures like wine companies. Qiu was well-known in Hong Kong for distributing wine across the city and in Macao. 

Qiu’s assistant, Zhao Mengyao, was also sanctioned on Thursday and investigators said she has ties to several other Prince Group officials who had previously been sanctioned. 

The other two people named in the sanctions — Cambodian nationals He Yujing and Visal Pang — are accused of holding property on behalf of sanctioned Prince Group official Chen Bo. 

Before he was sanctioned, Chen transferred several of his Japanese and Cambodian properties and businesses over to He – who is his wife – and Visal. 

The Treasury Department said the sanctions illustrate the vast laundering operation organized by Prince Group associates and the way they spread their money across multiple Asian countries to conceal its origin. 

U.S. regulators said the facilitators “played an important role in enabling the Prince Group TCO to access the international financial system and preserve the appearance of legitimate commercial activity.”

Human trafficking victims of Prince Group were forced to conduct cryptocurrency scams, romance schemes and other online frauds. The company had deep ties to the Cambodian government and operated freely across the country until international pressure from the U.S., China and Thailand forced Cambodia’s government to raid the scam compounds. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said they are aiming to dismantle “every layer of these organizations — from their leadership to the corporate structures and financial facilitators that enable them to operate with impunity.”

“Cyber scam syndicates continue to steal billions of dollars from American victims while relying on sophisticated international business networks to launder their illicit proceeds,” he said.

Prince Group initially rejected the criminal accusations in a statement last year but has largely folded operations since Zhi’s arrest — setting off chaotic scenes in Cambodia as both human trafficking victims and cyber scam compound workers fled jail-like facilities and crowded embassies seeking assistance.

The status of Zhi’s whereabouts and legal case in China is unknown but China has executed multiple scam compound leaders over the last two years. 

Madagascar sanctions

The Treasury Department also sanctioned Chui Kok Wa on Thursday for his role as the leader of a scam compound in Madagascar that was disrupted earlier this year. 

Chui was indicted last week after prosecutors accused him of fleeing Cambodia following the scam center disruption and restarting his own operation on the African island this summer. 

He allegedly stole $516,695 from 74 cryptocurrency wallets associated with victims in Maryland, Oregon, Nevada, Minnesota and other states.

The stolen funds were transferred to wallets controlled by Chui on platforms like Binance before they were sent to other accounts owned by people based in China.