The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned 46 individuals and entities tied to the transnational criminal organization known as the Prince Group. This enforcement action targets the financial infrastructure used to facilitate cyber-enabled fraud, human trafficking, and money laundering.
The billion-dollar shadow of Southeast Asian scam compounds
The Prince Group has built a massive criminal enterprise by exploiting digital asset investment scams and romance scams to target American victims. According to the Treasury Department, these operations are often centered in large-scale scam compounds in Southeast Asia, where trafficked and coerced workers are forced to carry out online fraud.
Criminal syndicates like the Prince Group utilize sophisticated international business networks to move illicit funds into the legitimate financial system . Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that these syndicates continue to steal billions of dollars from American victims while relying on complex corporate structures to launder their proceeds.
Qiu Yong and the Hong Kong-BVI corporate web
Qiu Yong serves as a central figure in managing the Prince Group’s offshore corporate structures . The Treasury identified Qiu as the beneficial owner of several companies in Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands, including Premium Financial Limited and Solar Scape Financial Limited.
Zhao Mengyao, also known as Amy Zhao, acts as a key facilitator by serving as Qiu Yong's personal assistant and company secretary. Together, they hold shares in Mighty Divine Trust Hong Kong Limited, a firm directed by the previously sanctoined wealth manager Zhou Yun. Qiu, who holds passports from Cambodia, St. Lucia, and Türkiye, has been linked to the business operations of Prince Group leader Chen Zhi.
The Tokyo mansion and the evasion of 2025 sanctions
Criminal actors have actively attempted to bypass U.S. sanctions by transferring property to family members to hide beneficial ownership. As reported by the Treasury, Chen Bo’s wife, He Yujing, received ownership of a Tokyo mansion following the October 2025 sanctions against Prince Group members.
This enforcement action was a coordinated effort involving the FBI's New York and Honolulu field offices, the Justice Department's Scam Center Strike Force, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska. The move advances President Donald Trump's March 6, 2026, Executive Order 14390, which directs the federal government to use all available tools against foreign-backed criminal networks.
Unidentified Malaysian operators and the limits of enforcement
While the Treasury has targeted 46 specific entities, the full extent of the Prince Group's remaining financial facilitators remains unclear.. The department's announcement mentions a Malaysian individual operating an Africa-based scam network, but the specific identity of this person has not been disclosed.
It remains to be seen if targeting specific shell companies in the British Virgin Islands will effectively stop the flow of funds to senior executives. The effectiveness of these sanctions will depend on whether international authorities in the United Kingdom and the British Virgin Islands can successfully disrupt the administrative services that sustain these criminal enterprises.
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