The United States government imposed fresh sanctions on members and associated entities of Cambodia’s Prince Group, a transnational criminal organization responsible for extensive cyber scam operations across Southeast Asia. The group’s network played a central role in defrauding American victims out of billions of dollars last year.
This action followed a previous designation in late 2025, when US and UK authorities jointly targeted the Prince Group and numerous affiliates. The US Treasury Department reported that losses to Americans through these scam centers rose sharply in 2024, reaching at least $10 billion, marking a substantial increase from the prior year.
The Prince Group’s criminal activities encompassed a broad swath of sectors, with proceeds funneled into real estate, aviation, banking, and luxury goods. The organization operated scam compounds that reached victims globally, exploiting technologies and infrastructures designed to launder illicit funds. Globally, governments have responded by seizing properties, freezing assets, and arresting key players throughout the network, affecting billions in value.
Simultaneously, the US Treasury proposed updates to the 2025 Huione Group regulations. Huione Group, identified as instrumental in laundering cybercrime proceeds, faces enhanced sanctions extending to H-Pay Service PLC and its successor entities. The US Justice Department also seized a cloud-computing account connected to Huione subsidiaries, disrupting systems that concealed fraudulent gains and facilitated illegal activities such as credit-card data trafficking and human trafficking via a Telegram-based marketplace known as Huione Guarantee or Haowang Guarantee.
The State Department linked Huione Group to a network used by various scam operators, including criminal elements connected to North Korea, to transfer and launder illicit funds. One of the Prince Group’s key figures, Chen Zhi, was stripped of his Cambodian citizenship and titles early in 2026, reflecting increasing international pressure against the organization.
UK authorities have also acted against the Prince Group, sanctioning the network for operating illegal scam centers that exploited trafficked workers, while using high-value London properties to launder money. Among seized assets were a multimillion-pound mansion, a major office building in the City of London, and numerous luxury flats in South London.