Treasury adds five people and 41 entities to sanctions list in action on online scam networks

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Thursday, Nov. 5, added five people and 41 entities to its sanctions list, in what Treasury described as an action against global scam networks.¹²

These designations are U.S. government determinations, not court findings or convictions. Descriptions of conduct below are Treasury’s.

Treasury says four of the people and all 41 entities support the business network of the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization, which the U.S. sanctioned earlier for what Treasury calls its role in cyber-enabled fraud, money laundering and human trafficking.¹

“Treasury remains committed to dismantling every layer of these organizations,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the release.¹

Treasury says it coordinated with the FBI, the Justice Department’s Scam Center Strike Force and the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Alaska, with cooperation from British Virgin Islands and U.K. authorities. The release does not say which agency worked on which part.¹

Who was designated, and on what basis

Names, nationalities and addresses are as OFAC lists them. The first four carry the [TCO] tag (Executive Order 13581, as amended); the fifth, [CYBER4] (Executive Order 13694, as amended).²¹

• QIU, Yong. Nationality Cambodia, alternatively Turkey and Saint Lucia. Treasury calls him a key Prince Group member who controls companies in the British Virgin Islands and Hong Kong.
• ZHAO, Mengyao. Nationality Hong Kong; address Hong Kong. Treasury says she is Qiu’s personal assistant and serves as company secretary and co-director of companies he controls.
• HE, Yujing. Nationality China, alternatively Vanuatu; address Cambodia. Treasury’s release calls her a Cambodian national. Treasury says she is the wife of Prince Group executive Chen Bo, that he transferred ownership of a Tokyo mansion to her and that she owns one designated company.
• PANG, Visal. Nationality Cambodia, alternatively China. Treasury calls him an associate who controls 11 designated companies. Treasury says the U.K. designated him March 26, 2026.
• CHUI, Kok Wa. Nationality Malaysia; address Antananarivo, Madagascar.

The companies

By Treasury’s account, the 41 entities are:¹

• 14 money lending, wine industry and shelf companies it says Qiu owns or controls.
• One company owned by He.
• 11 companies tied to Pang.
• 11 companies it says Chen Bo controls. OFAC designated Chen Bo on June 23, 2026.
• Three companies tied to Dai An, designated the same day. It calls him majority owner of one and a director of the other two.
• Greenbay Multi Media Pte Ltd, which it says is wholly owned by Thet Li, designated Oct. 14, 2025.

The Madagascar case

Treasury says Chui led a network of scammers in Madagascar who used cryptocurrency and other digital tools to take the equivalent of more than $400,000 from Americans.¹

What the sanctions do

Property of those designated that is in the U.S. or held by U.S. persons is blocked and must be reported to OFAC, as are entities owned 50% or more by blocked persons. U.S. persons generally cannot deal with them without a license.¹

Responses

We found no published statement on this action from anyone designated. The Record reported that the Prince Group initially rejected the criminal accusations in a statement last year.³ AFP, via The Star, reported that Cambodian authorities say they are acting against the scam industry and that Prince Group founder Chen Zhi was extradited from Cambodia to China in January.⁴

What the records do not show

• The release cites no court finding, and no record we opened shows a court has ruled on these designations.¹
• The two Treasury records differ on one person. The release calls He Yujing a Cambodian national; OFAC’s entry lists her nationality as China, alternatively Vanuatu. Neither record explains the difference, and we could not resolve it.¹²
• The release gives no total or year for Bessent’s statement that scam groups steal “billions of dollars” from American victims.¹