OFAC sanctions 41 companies tied to Prince Group scam network

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned four individuals and 41 entities on Nov. 5 that it says sustained Prince Group's transnational criminal organization after earlier designations hit its leadership. The action, published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, targets the offshore corporate scaffolding that the department believes let the group keep moving money.

"Cyber scam syndicates continue to steal billions of dollars from American victims while relying on sophisticated international business networks to launder their illicit proceeds," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the release.

The designations build on OFAC actions dated Oct. 14, 2025 and June 23, 2026 that reached Prince Group leadership, affiliated companies and financial facilitators. Treasury said the group's actors have generated billions of dollars through digital asset investment scams, romance scams and other online fraud, much of it run from scam compounds in Southeast Asia that rely on trafficked and coerced workers. The newly designated parties, according to the release, managed offshore corporate structures, hid beneficial ownership and provided administrative and financial services to senior Prince Group executives.

CryptoSlate reported on Nov. 7 that the four people named are Qiu Yong, Zhao Mengyao, He Yujing and Visal Pang. The report traces one ownership path that the Treasury charted: Qiu Yong holds BVI-registered Sun Speed Holdings Limited, which holds Hong Kong money lender Premium Financial Limited. Treasury described Qiu as a key Prince Group member who controls multiple BVI and Hong Kong companies on behalf of the group, holds passports from Cambodia, St. Lucia and Turkey, and once worked for a company controlled by group leader Chen Zhi, designated in October 2025.

Zhao, Treasury wrote, is Qiu's personal assistant and serves as company secretary and co-director of several Hong Kong companies he ultimately controls. He Yujing is the wife of Prince Group executive Chen Bo, designated in June 2026, and Treasury said Chen transferred ownership of a Tokyo mansion to her after the October 2025 action. Visal Pang controls eleven Cambodian companies, several co-directed with Chen Bo, and the United Kingdom designated him on March 26, 2026.

The reach extends to entities linked to previously sanctioned executives. Treasury designated Singapore-based Greenbay Multi Media Pte Ltd, which it says is 100 percent owned by Prince Group executive Thet Li, along with companies tied to Dai An, named as a high-level leader in June 2026. OFAC designated 45 targets under Executive Order 13581, which covers transnational criminal organizations, and one target under the cyber-activity order. The action also follows Executive Order 14390 of March 6, 2026 on cybercrime and fraud schemes against American citizens.

The schemes themselves rest on digital assets. Treasury wrote that fraudsters persuade victims to transfer funds or digital assets to criminally controlled accounts, then launder the proceeds through shell companies, offshore holding companies, facilitators and digital asset transactions. As with earlier rounds, a separate designation in the same release covers Chui Kok Wa, who Treasury said led a Madagascar-based network that defrauded Americans of more than $400,000 equivalent, including in digital assets.

The practical effect of the listing is immediate. All property of the designated persons in the United States or under U.S. control is blocked and must be reported to OFAC, and any entity owned 50 percent or more, directly or indirectly and in the aggregate, by blocked persons is blocked as well. CryptoSlate noted that civil penalties can apply on a strict liability basis and that OFAC's guidance asks financial institutions to run ownership due diligence on entities in their transactions and account relationships. That makes the ownership chain in the release matter for banks and exchanges screening counterparties, since an unnamed company can be blocked purely through the stakes blocked persons hold in it. Treasury coordinated the action with 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, with assistance from the British Virgin Islands Financial Investigation Agency and the United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.