The U.S. Department of the Treasury on June 23rd imposed new sanctions on 9 individuals and 26 entities linked to Cambodia’s Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization, citing the group’s role in scam compounds, fraud and money laundering operations targeting Americans.
The action, announced by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, targets Prince Group leadership, investors in scam compounds, and alleged front companies. In parallel, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed amending its October 2025 Huione Group Final Rule to include Cambodia-based H-Pay Service PLC and any successor entity, saying Huione Group was used by Prince Group to transfer and consolidate scam-derived assets.
“Scam centers in Southeast Asia steal billions of dollars from American victims each year,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. “The Trump Administration is united in its efforts to dismantle these overseas criminal enterprises.”
The designations build on Treasury’s October 2025 action against Prince Group, which was coordinated with the United Kingdom and designated the network as a transnational criminal organization. Treasury said Prince Group members profited from scam compounds targeting victims in the United States and globally, while investing criminal proceeds across real estate, aviation, and luxury cigars.
The latest action also targets Hu Xiaowei, also known as Hu Shi and Wu An Ming, described by Treasury as Prince Group’s “second-in-command.” Treasury said Hu’s activities included managing entities outside Cambodia, aircraft-related operations, transnational real estate activity and illicit gambling activities.
The measures come amid wider pressure on Cambodia-linked scam and money laundering networks. FinCEN finalized a rule in October 2025, severing Huione Group from the U.S. financial system, while Reuters reported that Telegram had blocked Huione Guarantee and Xinbi Guarantee in May 2025, after the two markets allegedly facilitated more than $35 billion in transactions since 2021. Huione Guarantee later said it would cease operations.
In Cambodia, the National Bank of Cambodia previously revoked Huione Pay’s license and moved to liquidate its assets, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
Treasury said Americans lost at least $10 billion in 2024 to Southeast Asia-based scam operations, up 66 percent from the previous year.
