US and UK Impose Major Sanctions on Southeast Asian Crime Network Over Crypto Scam Operations

The United States and the United Kingdom have jointly announced extensive sanctions targeting a powerful multinational crime network operating across Southeast Asia, accused of running a vast chain of “scam centres” in Cambodia, Myanmar, and neighbouring countries. The network allegedly trafficked workers and forced them to defraud victims worldwide through fake cryptocurrency investment schemes.

In what officials described as the largest-ever enforcement action of its kind in Southeast Asia, the US Treasury Department on Tuesday unveiled sweeping sanctions against 146 individuals linked to the Cambodia-based Prince Group, which it officially designated a transnational criminal organisation.

The United Kingdom followed suit, imposing its own sanctions on six individuals and entities tied to the group. British authorities also froze 19 properties in London valued at more than 100 million pounds ($134 million), which they said were connected to the network’s illicit activities.

“Today’s action represents one of the most significant strikes ever against the global scourge of human trafficking and cyber-enabled financial fraud,” said US Attorney General Pam Bondi, calling the sanctions a decisive move against a criminal empire operating across borders.

In a separate move, federal prosecutors in the United States unsealed an indictment against Chinese-Cambodian businessman Chen Zhi, the 37-year-old chairman of the Prince Group. Known as Vincent, Chen has been charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Authorities said he remains at large but faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

The US Justice Department also announced the largest forfeiture action in its history, seizing Bitcoin holdings valued at more than $14 billion at current market prices from the Prince Group and its affiliates.

Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg described Chen as the “mastermind behind a sprawling cyberfraud empire,” while US Attorney Joseph Nocella said the Prince Group had orchestrated “one of the largest investment fraud operations in history.”

The network’s activities have been linked to so-called “pig-butchering” scams, in which victims are groomed online and manipulated into transferring money into fraudulent investment schemes.

Officials said the coordinated sanctions and criminal charges represent a new level of international cooperation aimed at dismantling the infrastructure of forced-labour cybercrime networks spreading across Southeast Asia.

By fLEXI tEAM