WASHINGTON — The United States government announced new sanctions Tuesday targeting nine individuals and 26 entities connected to the Prince Group, a Cambodian conglomerate accused of running cybertheft and large-scale scam operations aimed at American victims.
The move expands on action the Treasury Department took in 2025 against the Prince Group, a sprawling Cambodian business empire with holdings in real estate, 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 announcing the sanctions.
According to Treasury, transnational criminal organizations based in Southeast Asia are using massive cyber fraud and scam operations to target Americans. A government estimate found that Americans lost at least $10 billion in 2024 to scam operations originating in Southeast Asia — a 66 percent jump compared to the previous year.
Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network also proposed updating its 2025 Huione Group Final Rule to bring in HPay Service PLC and any organization that succeeds it. Officials said one of the most widespread and profitable schemes involves fraud centered on digital asset investments.
The Huione Group, also based in Cambodia, has played a central role in laundering money stolen through cyber heists and virtual currency investment scams, and was used by the Prince Group to move proceeds from its own fraud operations, Treasury said.
In a related action, the U.S. Justice Department announced it had seized a cloud computing account used by subsidiaries of the Huione Group. Those subsidiaries helped funnel money from cryptocurrency investment frauds and cyber scams into the conventional banking system, 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 stated.
The seized account was connected to the operation of Huione Guarantee, also known as Haowang Guarantee, which is accused of using channels on the social media platform Telegram to facilitate illegal activity. That activity allegedly ranged from selling stolen credit card numbers and personal identity data to human trafficking, as well as laundering money from romance and investment scams.
Among those named in Tuesday’s Treasury sanctions is Hu Xiaowei, described by authorities as the Prince Group’s second-in-command and referred to as “big brother” to the group’s leader, Chen Zhi, who was sanctioned in 2025. Treasury said Hu Xiaowei controls three companies registered in the British Virgin Islands: Eagle Fortitude Limited, Leisure Focus Limited, and Future King Inc. Through Future King Inc., he is said to oversee a broad network of companies used to manage funds and properties.
Chen Zhi was arrested and extradited to China in January following a joint investigation by the United States and China into transnational crime. Beijing had been investigating the Prince Group since 2020 and maintains a close relationship with Cambodia.
Neither the Prince Group nor the Huione Group could be reached for comment.
