U.S. Treasury imposes sweeping sanctions on Cambodia’s Prince Group over alleged cyber-scam operations
The U.S. Treasury Department today announced a new package of sanctions targeting nine individuals and 26 companies it says are associated with Cambodia’s Prince Group, which is accused of engaging in cyber-scams and forced labor.
“Southeast Asia-based criminal organizations often recruit individuals to work in scam centers under false pretenses, such as by offering fake technology or customer service jobs at the centers’ connected casinos, resorts, and front companies,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.
“Once the individuals arrive at the compounds, the operators confiscate their passports and use debt bondage, physical violence, the threat of forced prostitution, and other methods to coerce them to scam strangers online,” the department added.
A Prince Group spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. The spokesperson previously told OCCRP the conglomerate is “innocent of the wild and unfounded accusations made by the U.S government, parroted in jurisdictions around the world.”
Central to the new package of designations is Hu Xiaowei who was recently arrested in Osaka, Japan, according to police interviews obtained by Kyodo. The Treasury Department’s press release notes that Hu Xiaowei has been described as the Prince Group’s “second in command.”
OCCRP has previously reported on Hu Xiaowei, including unmasking his multiple identities, his portfolio of UK and global assets as well as his recent trips to Japan on a private jet, along with Prince Group executives.
The U.S. Treasury technically sanctioned Hu Xiaowei in October 2025, but only under one of his four alias identities, “Chen Xiaoer.” The current sanctions target all of Hu Xiaowei’s identities, as well as multiple companies under his control.
The U.K. sanctioned Hu Xiaowei earlier this year, while Hong Kong has subjected him to asset freezes.
Also among those sanctioned were Chen Bo and Brendon Luo. OCCRP recently revealed that they were directors of Prince Group entities in Cambodia that have been subject to U.S. sanctions since October 2025. Both men own significant real estate in Japan — in the case of Chen Bo, two mansions in Tokyo.
Chen Bo was also the chairman of Byex Exchange Co Ltd, a Cambodian company sanctioned last October by the U.K. government for its alleged role in human rights abuses committed by the Prince Group. CCU Commercial Bank PLC, a Phnom Penh-based bank of which Chen Bo is chairman, was also designated in Treasury’s new round of sanctions.
Brendon Luo was described by Treasury as being an investor in a scam compound that facilitated major fraud operations, along with Qiu Wei Ren. OCCRP recently reported on Qiu Wei Ren’s London properties. He was sanctioned by the U.K. in 2025 for his links to the conglomerate.
Another target is Fang Zhizhen, a Chinese national who is alleged to be a longtime associate of Prince Group. He also has an outstanding arrest warrant in his home country, which has been published in Chinese state-backed media. According to Treasury, he has been directly involved in the Prince Group’s online payment gateways for scams.
Also sanctioned was White Horse Hotel Management Group, a Bangkok- based company whose sole director is Yang Yanming. Yang Yanming was sanctioned by the U.S. in October 2025, and linked to planned crypto resorts in East Timor and Palau that were exposed in an OCCRP investigation.
Hu Xiaowei, Chen Bo, Qiu Wei Ren, Brendon Luo, Yang Yanming and Fang Zhizhen did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent to multiple company and personal email addresses.
The Treasury Department said Southeast Asia-based scam operations costed Americans at least $10 billion in 2024, which was a 66-percent increase over the prior year.
The most common operation involves convincing victims “to make purported ‘investments’ in digital assets on websites that are designed to look like legitimate investment platforms but are actually controlled by the scammers themselves.”.