Phnom Penh, Cambodia ©AFP Yonhap News
The governments of the United States and the United Kingdom have imposed sanctions on an international criminal organization in Cambodia.
According to UPI on the 14th (local time), the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) took action, in cooperation with the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), against a criminal organization targeting U.S. and allied citizens through online fraud and money laundering.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury stated that they defrauded $10 billion (approximately 14 trillion KRW) from Americans through forced labor and violence. This accounts for 60% of the $16.6 billion (approximately 24 trillion KRW) lost to online investment fraud in the U.S.
OFAC sanctioned 146 entities within the international criminal organization Prince Group, led by Cambodian national Tianzhi, who operates a global criminal empire through online investment fraud.
They sanctioned 117 affiliates and one related official. Most affiliates were found to be offshore shell companies with no substantive business activity.
CEO Tianzhi and key executives were also designated for sanctions. The 38-year-old Tianzhi emigrated from China to Cambodia and renounced his Chinese citizenship to gain Cambodian nationality.
Additionally, the Treasury concluded a regulation blocking Hui One Group, a Cambodian-based financial services company, from the U.S. financial system. The U.S. contends that Hui One Group laundered proceeds from cryptocurrency scams and hacking for cybercriminals over several years.
The UK government also imposed sanctions on Prince Holding Group and key associates, including Tianzhi.
The UK froze a $16 million mansion owned by the Prince Group. Tianzhi and the group invested in the London real estate market, including a $133 million office building and 17 apartments. The property freeze by the UK government halted revenue from these buildings.
Headquartered in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Prince Group ostensibly manages entertainment, finance, and real estate operations, but the U.S. Department of the Treasury believes it engages in various criminal activities.
The Department of the Treasury stated, “Prince Holding Group’s promotional and marketing materials conceal transnational crime involving the construction, operation, and management of fraudulent complexes reliant on human trafficking and modern slavery.” They also noted, “The industrial-scale cyber fraud operation targets victims globally, including in the U.S.”
The Treasury explained that revenue is generated through money laundering, various scams and threats, corruption, illegal online gambling, industrial-scale human trafficking to operate at least 10 fraud organizations, and extracting forced laborers, including sexual exploitation of minors through coercion.