U.S. sanctions Cambodia's Prince Group over cyber scam network

The United States imposed sanctions on nine people and 26 entities linked to Cambodia’s Prince Group on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, over cybertheft and scam operations across Southeast Asia that targeted Americans. The move, coordinated with the State Department, built on the October 14, 2025 designation of Prince Group as a transnational criminal organization, when OFAC sanctioned Prince Group and 146 linked individuals and entities in a joint U.S.-U.K. action.

Treasury estimated Americans lost at least $10 billion in 2024 to scam centers in Southeast Asia, a 66% increase from the year before. Prince Group members owned and profited from scam compounds that reached victims in the United States and around the world, while the conglomerate itself had interests that ranged from real estate and banking to airlines. The group had moved criminal proceeds into real estate, aviation and luxury cigars, and countries around the world have since seized properties, made arrests and frozen assets worth billions of dollars.

Treasury proposed changes to its 2025 Huione Group final rule to include H-Pay Service PLC and successor entities, because Huione had been critical in laundering proceeds from cyberheists and virtual-currency investment scams. In parallel, the Justice Department seized a cloud-computing account used by Huione subsidiaries. The account helped move and conceal fraud proceeds and supported Huione Guarantee, also known as Haowang Guarantee, a Telegram-based marketplace tied to the sale of stolen credit-card data, identity information and human trafficking. The seizure was part of Operation Riptide, aimed at the infrastructure that enables global fraud.

The State Department identified Huione Group as a platform used by scam actors, including criminals linked to North Korea, to transfer and launder illicit assets. Chen Zhi, identified by U.S. officials as the leader and mastermind of Prince Group TCO, was stripped of his titles and Cambodian citizenship in January 2026.

In October 2025, the U.K. sanctioned the network for running illegal scam centers that tortured trafficked workers and using London real estate to store and move money. The assets included a £12 million mansion in North London, a £100 million office building in the City of London and 17 flats in South London.