Treasury Targets 41 Entities and Four Individuals for Supporting Prince Group’s Criminal Network

Key Facts

On November 5, 2026, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on four individuals and 41 entities that it said supported the business network of the transnational criminal organization Prince Group. The department said the move targets parties that helped the network continue its operations after previous U.S. actions. The sanctions covered people and entities linked to managing offshore corporate structures, concealing beneficial ownership and facilitating commercial activities. Treasury said some of those targeted provided administrative and financial services to senior officials in the group. The action expands the targeting to include, according to the department, the intermediaries and commercial structures that enabled the network to operate.

Treasury linked the network’s activities to digital scams, including digital asset investment schemes, romance scams and other online operations. It said proceeds from these activities are laundered through offshore companies and financial facilitators. It added that many operations are linked to scam compounds in Southeast Asia that rely on trafficked and coerced labor. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, "Online scam networks continue to steal billions of dollars from American victims." He added that these networks rely on international business relationships to launder their illicit proceeds. The sanctions are based on Executive Order 14390, issued on March 6, 2026, to combat cybercrime, fraud and predatory schemes targeting Americans.

The four individuals named by Treasury were Qiu Yong, Zhao Mengyao, He Yujing and Visal Pang. The department said Qiu Yong ultimately owns Hong Kong lending company Premium Financial Limited through Sun Speed Holdings, registered in the British Virgin Islands. It added that he controls other companies in the British Virgin Islands and Hong Kong on behalf of the group. Treasury also said Visal Pang controls 11 Cambodian companies, some of which are co-managed with Chen Bo. Regarding He Yujing, Treasury said she is Chen Bo’s wife and received ownership of his Tokyo mansion after the sanctions action in October 2025.

The action extends previous U.S. listings targeting Prince Group’s leadership, associated companies and financial facilitators on October 14, 2025, and June 23, 2026. In the first action, the Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on 146 targets within the group, alongside a move by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to cut the Huione Group off from the U.S. financial system. The U.S. government estimated that Americans lost at least 10 billion dollars to scams based in Southeast Asia during 2024, an increase of 66% from the previous year. On October 14, 2025, the Justice Department charged Prince Group founder and chairman Chen Zhi with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, saying the group operated forced-labor scam compounds in Cambodia. The department stressed at the time that the accused remained at large, that the charges did not establish guilt and that he was presumed innocent until proven guilty.

In October 2025, the Justice Department said it had filed a civil forfeiture complaint concerning approximately 127,271 bitcoin, which it described as proceeds or instruments of fraud and money laundering, and valued at approximately 15 billion dollars at the time. The rule Treasury is applying in the current action prohibits property and interests in property located in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons. The rule extends to entities owned 50% or more, directly or indirectly, individually or in aggregate, by one or more blocked persons. Under it, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from transactions involving the targets’ property, as well as transactions within or through the United States. This remains subject to exceptions, as a transaction may be authorized under a general or specific license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or if an exemption applies.

In the same action, the Office of Foreign Assets Control designated a Malaysian individual whom it said defrauded U.S. victims by operating a network of scammers in Africa, alongside those targeted in connection with Prince Group. Treasury links the move to efforts to combat cybercrime and fraud, while the sanctions details place responsibility for the allegations about the roles of individuals and entities on the department. The ownership threshold means a transaction ban may apply to an entity whose name does not appear directly on the list of targets if it meets the ownership rule. The scope of the ban also defines the connection of the property to the United States or to the control of U.S. persons; it does not cover all of the targets’ assets wherever they are. Transactions that are licensed or exempt remain outside the general prohibition announced by Treasury.