Treasury Sanctions 45 More Prince Group Fronts, the Scam Empire Behind the Record 127,271 Bitcoin Seizure

Published November 7, 2026 (OFAC action of November 5). Market data as of November 7, 08:00 UTC.

The US Treasury on Nov. 5 sanctioned four individuals and 41 companies accused of helping Cambodia's Prince Group keep its business empire alive, a year after the group's founder was charged and 127,271 Bitcoin were seized.

The action targets the plumbing rather than the bosses. The people named are an assistant, a spouse, a business partner and a key holding-company owner, and the companies include lenders, wine traders, an airline and a hotel. Treasury says they helped Prince Group leaders "conceal assets, evade prior sanctions, and maintain access to the international financial system."

"Cyber scam syndicates continue to steal billions of dollars from American victims while relying on sophisticated international business networks to launder their illicit proceeds," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement announcing the sanctions.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control also designated a Malaysian man, Chui Kok Wa, who it says ran a network of scammers in Madagascar that took more than $400,000 from Americans, including in digital assets.

How the network was built to survive sanctions

Treasury describes layers of shell companies. Qiu Yong, who holds Cambodian, St. Lucian and Turkish passports, owns BVI companies that in turn control Hong Kong money lenders and wine businesses. His assistant, Zhao Mengyao, sits on several of their boards, according to the release.

Other moves look like classic evasion. Treasury says executive Chen Bo, sanctioned in June, transferred his Tokyo mansion to his wife, He Yujing, after the October 2025 action. Visal Pang, already sanctioned by the UK in March, controls 11 Cambodian firms, several co-directed with Chen Bo.

By BullishStation's count of the OFAC list update, 23 of the 41 companies are registered in Cambodia, 8 in the British Virgin Islands, 6 in Hong Kong, 2 in Singapore, and one each in Malaysia and Mauritius. That spread is the point: freezing a Cambodian airline does little if the money sits in a BVI shell.

The legal effect is broad. Any property of the designated people in the US, or held by US persons, is blocked, and so is any company they own 50% or more. US exchanges, banks and custodians cannot deal with them, which includes processing crypto transfers to or from their accounts.

Why this case matters for Bitcoin

Prince Group is tied to the largest crypto seizure in US history. On Oct. 14, 2025, prosecutors in Brooklyn charged founder Chen Zhi with wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy, and filed a civil forfeiture complaint against "approximately 127,271 Bitcoin, currently worth approximately $15 billion," according to the Justice Department. The department called it "the largest forfeiture action in the history of the Department of Justice."

The value has shrunk with the market, as Bitcoin slid and spot Bitcoin ETFs kept losing money. At about $76,000 per Bitcoin on Coinbase on Saturday morning, the same coins are worth roughly $9.7 billion. By our count, that is about 35% less than the figure announced a year ago, which implied a price near $117,900.

The coins are also a market overhang. They sit in US government custody while the forfeiture case runs, and their final use, whether paid to victims or held, has not been announced. Similar disputes over seized coins are playing out elsewhere, as in the UK case over 61,000 seized Bitcoin.

The scam problem is far from solved. Treasury estimated in October 2025 that Americans lost at least $10 billion to Southeast Asia-based scam operations in 2024, up 66% in a year, according to its original Prince Group release. That action named 146 targets and cut off Cambodia's Huione Group from the US financial system.

History offers a guide. Sanctions rarely end such networks in one blow. Treasury's own releases show the pattern: 146 targets in October 2025, more in June 2026, and now 45, as leaders shift assets to relatives and fresh shells. That makes this the third wave against Prince Group in 13 months.

For crypto users, the practical lesson is about counterparties. Platforms that screen wallets against the sanctions list, a duty that also applies under the EU's MiCA licensing regime, will now block funds linked to these 45 names. Pig-butchering scams still start with a friendly message, and stolen coins move fast once they leave a wallet, as the Ledger supply-chain attack showed in October.

The next steps will come from the courts. Chen Zhi's criminal case and the forfeiture complaint for the 127,271 Bitcoin remain pending in the Eastern District of New York, and any ruling on the coins would be the biggest single decision on seized crypto to date.

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Sources: US Treasury press release sb0683 (Nov. 5, 2026); OFAC Recent Actions, Nov. 5, 2026 SDN list update; US Treasury press release sb0278 (Oct. 14, 2025); US Department of Justice press release 25-1,031 (Oct. 14, 2025); Coinbase BTC-USD price.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice. The people and companies named have been designated by OFAC; a designation is not a criminal conviction, and an indictment is an allegation. Crypto assets are volatile and you can lose money.