The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on a network of individuals and companies across Asia, including two people who obtained Cypriot citizenship through the country’s now-defunct investment program.

According to Tuesday’s announcement (October 14, 2025), Chinese-Cambodian businessman Chen Zhi and Chinese national Yang Jian were added to OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List under Executive Order 13581, which targets transnational criminal organizations.

The decision effectively freezes any assets they hold within U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits American citizens and companies from conducting business with them.

Both men had been granted Cypriot nationality under the island’s controversial Citizenship by Investment Programme, which was terminated following revelations of abuse and corruption exposed by the “Cyprus Papers” investigation.

Chen Zhi, 36, is the chairman of Cambodia’s Prince Group, a sprawling conglomerate involved in property development, finance, and luxury goods. The U.S. Treasury accuses him of leading operations tied to human trafficking, online scams, and money laundering through the Prince Group and the associated Jin Bei Group. OFAC described the network as part of a “transnational criminal organization operating across Southeast Asia.”

The second Cypriot passport holder, Yang Jian, was also sanctioned for his involvement with the same criminal network. Identified as a Chinese-born investor active in Cambodia and Hong Kong, Yang is said to have maintained links with entities facilitating illicit financial flows and digital currency transactions. His name appears alongside several companies under the umbrella of the Prince Group and its affiliates.

The new designations form part of a wider OFAC operation targeting the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization, which the U.S. says has laundered hundreds of millions of dollars through real estate, casinos, and financial institutions in Cambodia, Singapore, and beyond. In total, over 60 entities and individuals across multiple jurisdictions were sanctioned, including companies registered in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Palau, Vanuatu, and the British Virgin Islands.