Treasury widens the net around the alleged crypto-scam network, hitting offshore firms and nominees that helped move assets after earlier sanctions.
MoneyTurkey Crypto Desk | 6 November 2026
Key points
- OFAC sanctioned four individuals and 41 entities tied to Prince Group, including offshore companies and nominees that Treasury says helped hide assets.
- The U.S. is seeking forfeiture of about $14 billion in Bitcoin linked to the group, while UK authorities have frozen Thet Li’s London penthouse.
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned four individuals and 41 entities on Thursday that it says supported Prince Group, the Cambodian conglomerate accused of running scam compounds that use trafficked workers to defraud victims through crypto investment and romance scams. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) targeted offshore companies, nominee owners and administrators that Treasury says helped Prince Group executives conceal assets and evade earlier sanctions imposed in October 2025 and June 2026. The move was coordinated with the FBI, the Justice Department’s Scam Center Strike Force and authorities in the British Virgin Islands and the UK.
What happened
Among those sanctioned is Qiu Yong, who Treasury said controls a network of British Virgin Islands and Hong Kong companies on behalf of Prince Group, including money lenders and wine businesses. His personal assistant, Zhao Mengyao, was also designated. OFAC also targeted two people it said are holding property for, or running companies with, Prince Group executive Chen Bo, who was sanctioned in June. They include his wife, He Yujing, to whom Chen Bo transferred ownership of his Tokyo mansion after the October 2025 sanctions, and associate Visal Pang, who controls 11 Cambodian companies spanning construction, logistics, a hotel and a “super app.”
Eleven companies still controlled by Chen Bo were also sanctioned, including Prince International Airlines and CB General Insurance. Further entities in Singapore, Mauritius and Malaysia were sanctioned for links 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, who Treasury said led a network of scammers that used crypto and other technologies to defraud Americans of more than $400,000.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said cyber scam syndicates continue to steal billions of dollars from American victims while relying on sophisticated international business networks to launder their illicit proceeds. Prince Group has denied the allegations. Chen Zhi himself was arrested in Cambodia in January along with two other Chinese nationals and extradited to China, where state media described him as the head of a major cross-border gambling and fraud syndicate. Cambodia, which had revoked his citizenship the month before, also placed the group’s Prince Bank into liquidation.
Why it matters
The U.S. is seeking the forfeiture of about $14 billion in Bitcoin tied to Prince Group, while UK authorities have frozen the London penthouse of Thet Li. Thursday’s action was coordinated with the FBI, the Justice Department’s Scam Center Strike Force, which has reported $580 million in crypto seizures and freezes, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska, with help from authorities in the British Virgin Islands and the UK, according to Treasury. The designations show how Treasury is expanding pressure on the corporate structures that allegedly kept funds flowing after the first rounds of sanctions.
The sanctions also hit companies that span airlines, insurance, construction, logistics and media, illustrating the breadth of the commercial network Treasury says was used to move and obscure proceeds. By naming nominee owners and family members who received property transfers after earlier sanctions, OFAC is signaling that it will continue to pursue both the operating companies and the individuals who hold assets on their behalf.
What to watch
- Any additional forfeiture filings tied to the $14 billion Bitcoin request
- Further UK asset freezes linked to Thet Li or other Prince Group executives
- Updates from the Scam Center Strike Force on crypto seizures
- Developments in Cambodia around Prince Bank liquidation
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