On June 23, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a new round of sanctions on nine individuals and 26 companies linked to the Southeast Asia-based Prince Group transnational criminal organization, identifying key figure Hu Xiaowei as a major target.
US officials said the sanctions aimed to combat illegal activities in Southeast Asia targeting American citizens, including online fraud, virtual-currency investment scams and cross-border money laundering. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Southeast Asian scam groups defrauded American victims of billions of dollars annually and that the United States would continue dismantling overseas criminal networks and their financial chains.
According to the report, Hu Xiaowei was identified as Prince Group’s “number two” and had previously been sanctioned by the United States under one of his aliases, Chen Xiao’er, in October 2025. The report alleged that he had long handled core operations including overseas corporate management, illegal gambling and cross-border fund transfers, and used three British Virgin Islands offshore companies to build an asset network spanning Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Kingdom. It assessed that the new sanctions would decisively restrict his scope for illegal operations.
