ASEAN Beat | Security | Southeast Asia

US Government Announces Fresh Sanctions Against Cambodia-based Scam Network

The U.S. Treasury Department says that actors linked to Prince Group targeted victims across with world via “sophisticated cyber-enabled fraud schemes.”

Chen Zhi, the chairman of Prince Holding Group, as seen in a publicity photo published on the conglomerate’s now-defunct website.

The United States yesterday announced a new tranche of sanctions against Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group, which it has accused of running a region-wide network of online scamming centers.

In a statement, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said that it had sanctioned an additional four individuals and 41 entities “that support the business network of Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization.”

“Prince Group TCO-affiliated actors have targeted victims in the United States and around the world through sophisticated cyber-enabled fraud schemes, including digital asset investment scams, romance scams, and other online financial fraud,” it stated. “Today’s action further targets the corporate and financial infrastructure that has enabled Prince Group TCO leaders to conceal assets, evade prior sanctions, and maintain access to the international financial system.” According to U.S. government estimates, such scams cost U.S. citizens at least $10 billion in 2024.

Treasury’s action comes after an operation in October of 2025, in which OFAC announced sanctions on 146 individuals and entities connected to Prince Holding Group, including its 38-year-old chairman Chen Zhi. It designated the group a “transnational criminal organization,” alleging its involvement in cyberfraud, human trafficking, and money laundering.

The sanctions were part of what Treasury described as the “largest action ever” to disrupt Southeast Asia’s scamming operations, which are run predominantly by Chinese criminal syndicates and have relied on a huge number of trafficked workers from across the globe. In a parallel announcement, federal prosecutors in the U.S. also unsealed an indictment charging Chen with wire fraud and money laundering. They accused him of “the construction, operation, and management........

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