Washington – The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), in close coordination with the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), took complementary actions against criminal networks responsible for targeting citizens of the United States and other allied nations through online scams and the laundering of stolen funds, a Treasury Department press release said yesterday (Oct. 14).
OFAC has imposed sweeping sanctions on 146 targets within the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organisation (Prince Group TCO), a Cambodia-based network led by Cambodian national Chen Zhi that operates a transnational criminal empire through online investment scams targeting Americans and others worldwide. In addition, FinCEN finalised a rule under section 311 of the USA Patriot Act to sever the Cambodia-based financial services conglomerate, Huione Group, from the US financial system. For years, Huione Group has laundered proceeds of virtual currency scams and heists on behalf of malicious cyber actors.
“The rapid rise of transnational fraud has cost American citizens billions of dollars, with life savings wiped out in minutes,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “The Treasury is taking action to protect Americans by cracking down on foreign scammers. Working in close coordination with federal law enforcement and international partners like the United Kingdom, Treasury will continue to lead efforts to safeguard Americans from predatory criminals.”
Over $16 billion lost to online scams
US losses to online investment scams have steadily increased over the last several years, totaling over $16.6 billion. A US government estimate indicated that Americans lost at least $10 billion to Southeast Asia-based scam operations in 2024, a 66 percent increase over the prior year, with scams like those perpetrated by Prince Group TCO being particularly significant. Over the course of the past decade, transnational organised criminal groups, like Prince Group TCO, have established profitable cyberfraud operations across Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia. Prince Group TCO remains a dominant player in Cambodia’s scam economy and has controlled illicit financial flows of billions of dollars.
The actions taken by OFAC and FinCEN were in close coordination with the UK’s FCDO, which took complementary actions against criminal networks responsible for targeting citizens of the United States and other allied nations through online scams and the laundering of stolen funds.
The UK ‘s FCDO has concurrently imposed sanctions on Prince Holding Group, Chen Zhi, and his key associates. Today’s bilateral sanctions actions are accompanied by the unsealing of a criminal indictment in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York against Chen Zhi. This coordinated action is the result of close coordination between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, as well as the UK’s FCDO.
In Thailand Mr. Nantiwat Samart, former secretary to the Foreign Minister and former deputy director of the National Intelligence Agency, said the seizure of this scam network’s funds has pressured senior Cambodian leader Hun Sen and while he is several steps ahead of Thailand in taking the border dispute to the World Court and airing their viewpoint worldwide, it has not yielded any results, TV Channel 7 said this morning (Oct. 15).
“Thailand may have been slow to explain what happened to the world, but it does not lie or create fake news. Today, the world understands more that that country is hell on earth. It is a hub for online crime, defrauding the world and engaging in money laundering,” he said.
Recently, the United States seized over 500 billion baht in assets belonging to Prince Group TCO, owned by Chen Zhi, a Chinese national who works with Hun Sen. This is in addition to the United States’ previous order to shut down the Huione Group, owned by Hun To, a relative of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, and prohibited financial transactions.
Nantiwat also said that South Korea recently expressed deep dissatisfaction with the fact that South Koreans have been tricked into coming to Cambodia and then killed.
He also revealed that more than 300 South Koreans have disappeared in Cambodia and the South Korean government is sending senior officials to investigate the facts and will also send troops to rescue the South Koreans detained in these scam centres.
Meanwhile Amarin TV quoted a Facebook user who goes by the name “Drama Addict” as saying that forced labour scams entrenched across Cambodia run by what is called “pig butcher gang” have stolen billions of dollars from victims in the United States and around the world.
Importantly, Prince Group TNC’s head Chen Zhi is a major patron of the Cambodian People’s Party and serves as a cabinet advisor both in the current government of Hun Manet and the former government of Hun Sen.
Therefore, today, the United States has effectively destroyed Hun Sen’s largest sponsor and further asset seizures are expected in the near future.
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Top and Front Page: Senior Cambodian leader Hun Sen and head of Prince Group TCO Chen Zhi. Photo – Amarin TV
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