The Wife, the Assistant and the Airline: Washington Goes After the Prince Group's Second Ring

1. Washington moves from the bosses to the people holding the paper

The third American round against Cambodia's Prince Group reaches past its leaders to the people who hold their paperwork. On 5 November the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated four individuals and 41 companies that it says support the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization, the conglomerate Washington and London accused in October 2025 of running forced-labour scam compounds. By Le Détroit's count of Treasury's figures, that makes 226 American designations in three rounds: 146 in October 2025, 35 in June 2026 and 45 now.

None of the four is a household name. He Yujing is the wife of Chen Bo, a Prince executive designated in June. Zhao Mengyao, also known as Amy Zhao, is the personal assistant of Qiu Yong and company secretary of several of his firms; he holds Cambodian, St Lucian and Turkish passports and owns companies in Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Visal Pang co-directs several companies with Chen Bo. Senior Prince executives "have relied on layers of offshore holding companies, foreign entities, nominee directors, and corporate service providers" to keep control of assets while hiding who owns them, Treasury says.

"Cyber scam syndicates continue to steal billions of dollars from American victims while relying on sophisticated international business networks to launder their illicit proceeds," said Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary. A designation is not a conviction. The Prince Group has said the American and British allegations are "baseless and appear aimed at justifying the unlawful seizure of assets worth billions of dollars", OCCRP reported; no response to this round had been published by 7 November. Phnom Penh has hardened since October 2025, when its interior ministry said the group had met all legal requirements: it has since extradited the chairman, Chen Zhi, to China and frozen assets.

Chart 1

Three rounds, each one ring further out

US and UK designations of the Prince network, and what others did, Oct 2025 to Nov 2026

Hover or tap the marks for details

114 Oct 2025

Round one: the group and its chairman

Washington names the Prince Group a criminal organisation and charges Chen Zhi; Britain freezes London property.

146 US targets

14 October 2025: 146 US targetsOFAC designates the Prince Group TCO, Chen Zhi and companies including Prince BankDOJ charges Chen Zhi in Brooklyn and seeks about 127,271 bitcoin, then worth about $15bnUK targets include the group, Chen Zhi and three firms; 19 London properties, including a £100m office building

26 to 9 Jan 2026

Chairman extradited, bank and BVI firms put in liquidation

Cambodia sends Chen Zhi to China and liquidates Prince Bank; a BVI court appoints provisional liquidators.

6 to 9 January 20266 Jan: Chen Zhi arrested in Cambodia, then extradited to China; his Cambodian citizenship had been revoked (OCCRP)8 Jan: the National Bank of Cambodia orders Prince Bank's liquidation9 Jan: a BVI court puts 28 Prince entities, and two companies named in the US forfeiture complaint, in provisional liquidation (BVI government)

326 Mar 2026

London adds five Prince-linked names

Among them Visal Pang, listed as Weizhi Pang, and Tian Xu International Technology.

5 Prince-linked UK designations

26 March 2026: UK Global Human Rights sanctions10 designations, five of them tied to the Prince Group or Chen ZhiWeizhi Pang (Visal Pang), Tian Xu International Technology, BSquare Technology, Thet Li and An Ming Wu

423 Jun 2026

Round two: the executives

Chen Bo and Dai An, a Cambodian bank and a Hong Kong leasing company.

35 US targets

23 June 2026: 35 US targets9 individuals and 26 entitiesChen Bo, with CCU Commercial Bank and Cloud Nine No. 4 Leasing; Dai AnHu Xiaowei, called the group's second in command, first listed in October 2025 as Chen Xiao'er

5Aug to Oct 2026

Cambodia pulls two licences and freezes nearly $1bn

CCU Commercial Bank and Tian Xu lose their licences; 198 Prince-linked companies identified.

August to October 2026August: the central bank revokes CCU Commercial Bank's licence for non-compliance (CamboJA News)It also revokes the licence of Tian Xu International Technology, a payment firm, by a decision of 3 August announced on 10 September (Cambodianess)21 October: the anti-scam commission reports assets worth nearly $1bn frozen, 198 companies identified (98 in Cambodia) and 32 arrest warrants (Phnom Penh Post)

65 Nov 2026

Round three: the second ring

A wife, an assistant, a co-director and an owner of shelf companies, with 41 companies.

45 US targets, plus one separate

5 November 2026: 45 US targets4 individuals: He Yujing, Visal Pang, Qiu Yong and Zhao Mengyao41 entities: 23 in Cambodia, 8 in the BVI, 6 in Hong Kong, 2 in Singapore, 1 in Malaysia, 1 in MauritiusSeparately, Chui Kok Wa, under the US cyber sanctions order

US round, one square per targetUK listingAction by Cambodia, the BVI or others

Squares: Treasury's totals; the UK gave none in Oct 2025. Not shown: South Korea's sanctions on Chen Zhi, 12 members and 128 Prince entities (Nov 2025) and the EU's on the group and Chen Zhi (Jul 2026).

2. The airline, the lottery and the insurer were there all along

The 23 Cambodian companies on the list read like a small national economy. OFAC's own entries file them under passenger air transport (Prince International Airlines), gambling and betting (Asian Welfare Lotteries), finance and insurance (CB General Insurance), short-term accommodation (the Marco Polo Hotel), wholesale of food, drink and tobacco (Cambo Duty Free Merchandise) and computer programming (the U-Life Kh Super App), alongside construction, property, fish farming and oil and gas services. Eleven are tied to Chen Bo, eleven to Visal Pang and one to He Yujing.

None was set up after the sanctions began. By Le Détroit's count from the dates in OFAC's entries, all 41 companies designated on 5 November were registered before the first round of October 2025: the Cambodian ones between June 2015 and November 2024, 21 of them before 2022, and the Hong Kong and BVI ones between 2012 and 2020. Treasury itself cites Qiu Yong's wine trade as evidence of the group's "reach into ostensibly legitimate businesses". One of them, the payment firm Tian Xu International Technology, had already lost its Cambodian licence in August. The respectable economy was part of the model from the start; sanctions are only now reaching this layer of it.

3. A house moved to a wife, and companies to an assistant

What did move after the first round were names on deeds. Chen Bo bought a mansion across from Tokyo's Zenpukuji Park on 10 October 2025, four days before the American and British sanctions, according to Japanese land records obtained by OCCRP and its Japanese partner Tansa; in November 2025 the records show it passing to his wife. Treasury now confirms the move, "Since OFAC's action in October 2025, Chen Bo has transferred ownership of his Tokyo mansion to He Yujing", and designates her with her software company, set up in November 2024.

A designation blocks what falls under American jurisdiction and bars Americans from dealing with her; it does not by itself freeze a house in Tokyo. That is for Japan, where the authorities have already acted against the group's people: in July Tokyo prosecutors summarily indicted a 44-year-old Prince executive for immigration offences, Kyodo News reported.

The aide matters as much as the wife. Zhao Mengyao is company secretary and co-director of Hong Kong companies that Qiu Yong ultimately controls, and holds shares with him in Mighty Divine Trust Hong Kong, designated in October 2025 and run by Zhou Yun, whom Treasury calls Chen Zhi's wealth manager. Visal Pang was already under British sanctions: London listed him in March as Weizhi Pang, a director of Tian Xu International Technology and of the U-Life super app. The passports tell the same story. Qiu Yong's entry lists three; He Yujing's lists Chinese and Vanuatu passports, though Treasury's release calls her a Cambodian national; the British list gives Thet Li, another Prince executive, six nationalities.

4. The offshore plumbing runs through Tortola and Kowloon

Qiu Yong's corner of the network shows why the BVI and Hong Kong keep coming up. Treasury says he is the beneficial owner of eight BVI companies: four hold six Hong Kong firms in Kowloon, and four are what Treasury calls shelf companies. The Hong Kong firms are two money lenders, Premium Financial, registered in 2012, and Solar Scape Finance; three companies linked to the wine trade; and Direct Astute HK, whose business is not stated. Hong Kong media reported that Qiu was involved in selling wine across Hong Kong and Macao, Treasury notes.

The BVI are no longer a blind spot. On 9 January 2026 a BVI court appointed provisional liquidators from Interpath over 28 Prince entities registered there, on the attorney general's application, and the territory's government said beneficial ownership data shared with Britain had "assisted in the application of sanctions". This time OFAC thanked the BVI Financial Investigation Agency for its cooperation. The other strands run through Singapore, Malaysia and Mauritius, where Dai An, a Prince leader designated in June, owns or directs three companies, and through Singapore again, where Thet Li owns Greenbay Multi Media.

Chart 5

Kowloon, Tortola, Port Louis: the map of the second ring

Where the 41 companies sit, the passports on the four SDN entries, and the network's other links

Hover or tap the marks for details

Line from Phnom Penh: where the designated companies and assets areCambodia

Where the 41 companies are

1Cambodia 23 companiesCambodia: 23 companiesChen Bo 11, Visal Pang 11, He Yujing 1; all in Phnom Penh but one in KandalPassports: Qiu Yong and Visal Pang; Treasury calls He Yujing a Cambodian nationalIts anti-scam commission said on 21 October that assets worth nearly $1bn had been frozen

2British Virgin Islands 8 companiesBritish Virgin Islands: 8 companiesAll owned by Qiu Yong, registered 2015 to 2020; four are shelf companies, Treasury saysA BVI court put 28 Prince entities in provisional liquidation on 9 January 2026OFAC thanked the BVI Financial Investigation Agency

3Hong Kong 6 companiesHong Kong: 6 companiesTwo money lenders, three firms linked to the wine trade and Direct Astute HK, all in KowloonHeld through BVI companiesZhao Mengyao is based here and holds a Hong Kong passportCloud Nine No. 4 Leasing, designated in June, is also here

4Singapore 2 companiesSingapore: 2 companiesChen Hua Holdings (Dai An, majority owner) and Greenbay Multi Media (Thet Li, sole owner)

5Malaysia 1 companyMalaysia: 1 companyGreenmeadows Properties, Kuala Lumpur, a holding company; Dai An is a directorChui Kok Wa, designated separately, is Malaysian

6Mauritius 1 companyMauritius: 1 companyMeritwise Group Public Ltd, Port Louis, listed under financial and insurance activities; Dai An is a director

Passports on the SDN entries

7China passportsChina: passportsHe Yujing and Visal Pang hold Chinese passports, their SDN entries showChen Zhi was extradited to China in January 2026

8St Lucia passportSt Lucia: passportQiu Yong holds a St Lucian passportThe UK lists St Lucia among Thet Li's six nationalities

9Türkiye passportTürkiye: passportQiu Yong holds a Turkish passport, his SDN entry shows

10Vanuatu passportVanuatu: passportHe Yujing holds a Vanuatu passport, her SDN entry showsThe UK lists Vanuatu among Thet Li's nationalities

Assets and trade

11Japan mansionJapan: the Tokyo mansionBought by Chen Bo on 10 October 2025, moved to He Yujing in November 2025 (Tansa, OCCRP)A US listing does not by itself freeze it

12Macao wine salesMacao: wine salesHong Kong media reported that Qiu Yong sold wine across Hong Kong and Macao, Treasury says

Same release, separate network

13Madagascar separate networkMadagascar: a separate networkChui Kok Wa, a Malaysian based in Antananarivo, designated under a cyber orderNot linked to the Prince Group in the release

Who acted

14United Kingdom partnerUnited Kingdom: partnerSanctioned the group in October 2025 and Visal Pang in March 2026OFAC thanked the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

15United States designatesUnited States: designatesOFAC, with the FBI's New York and Honolulu offices, the DOJ Scam Center Strike Force and the US Attorney in Alaska

Small territories appear as dots. Treasury's release also calls He Yujing a Cambodian national.

5. The airline that filed for Nasdaq

The airline is where the network came closest to Wall Street. Prince International Airlines, registered in May 2017, is now designated as one of Chen Bo's companies. Cambodia Airways, flying Airbus jets from Phnom Penh since 2018, was founded in 2017 as its subsidiary, with Chen Bo as founding chairman until December 2023, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported in October 2024. In June Treasury also designated Cloud Nine No. 4 Leasing, a Hong Kong company majority-owned by Chen Bo that OFAC lists under passenger air transport.

In May 2024 Cambodia Airways filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to list on Nasdaq under the ticker CAKR; its last amendment, on 25 October 2024, offered 10m shares at $4 to $5, about $45m. The filing never mentions Prince, but it names the company that sold the airline three Airbus A320s between 2019 and 2021 for about $134m: Cloud Nine No. 4 Leasing. It says the chairman, Kong Hwa Ng, controls the airline through a holding company, with 97.72% of the votes before the offering; RFA reported that Mr Kong, a Singaporean, had worked as a regional manager for a construction company chaired by Chen Bo. The listing never happened: EDGAR shows no filing since that amendment, and no withdrawal (as of 7 November). Cambodia Airways is not on the US sanctions list, and it is still flying: it is due to open a Siem Reap to Guangzhou route on 17 November, AeroRoutes reported.

6. Le Détroit's reading

Sanctions follow names, while this network's wealth sits in companies registered years before the first round and in deeds that can change hands within weeks. Each American round has reached one ring further, from the chairman in October 2025 to the executives in June and now to a wife, an assistant, a co-director and a set of shelf companies. What a listing cannot do alone is seize anything outside American reach. The bite comes from local action: the BVI liquidations, and Cambodia's freezing of assets worth nearly $1bn, which its anti-scam commission reported on 21 October with 198 Prince-linked companies identified, 98 of them at home.

The immediate cost falls on the designated businesses and those who deal with them: no American may now trade with Prince International Airlines, the insurer, the lottery or the hotel, and banks that clear dollars are likely to shun them. Three signals will show whether the second ring is really closing: whether Japan acts on the Tokyo mansion and Cambodia's regulators on the designated insurer, lottery and airline; whether anyone examines who owns Cambodia Airways today; and whether the court in Brooklyn, where Judge Rachel Kovner turned away nine would-be claimants to the 127,271 bitcoin on 25 September, moves the forfeiture to a final order.