S’pore investigating 2 men linked to Prince Group after US sanctions; $600m in assets seized so far

SINGAPORE - The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is investigating two men over alleged money laundering offences linked to Cambodia’s widely-sanctioned Prince Group and their associates.

Police on June 23 identified the two men as Hu Xiaowei and Qiu Wei Ren. Qiu was named in sanctions issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in the United States the same day.

Both Hu and Qiu are believed to have left the country before October 2025 and are currently not in Singapore.

Police said Hu hold passports issued by Cyrprus, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Hong Kong.

“Police had previously seized assets held across his bank and securities accounts in Singapore in January 2026,” the spokesperson added.

The OFAC had previously sanctioned Hu in October 2025 under the alias, Chen Xiao’er, over his alleged links to the Prince Group, which the US described as one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organisations.

Hu, who is confirmed to have at least two other aliases including Hu Shi and Wu An Ming, was a shareholder of two of Chen Zhi’s companies until at least 2021.

A Singapore based family office linked to Hu Xiaowei was also sanctioned in the latest round by the OFAC.

Future Oasis, which was incorporated in 2022, counts British Virgin Island-registered Future King as its sole shareholder. Hu is believed to be the ultimate owner of the BVI firm.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) reported on June 22 that Hu was arrested in Japan. Together with Kyodo News, OCCRP reported that he was arrested on suspicions of filing a fraudulent change-of-address notification, which violates laws against using false electronic official records. Qiu served as the director of a now-defunct Singapore management consultancy firm, Fly the Sky International Management, between 2021 and 2025. The firm had $2 million in start-up capital and five directors who held citizenships from Cambodia, China, Cyprus and Malaysia. Hu and Qiu are both originally from China.SPF said more than $600 million in assets linked to the group, including three properties, a yacht and multiple luxury cars, bags and watches, have been seized or placed under prohibition of disposal orders.

Prince Group

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had in October 2025 dropped sanctions against Prince Group, Cambodian national Chen Zhi and his affiliates in one of the largest financial fraud takedowns in history.

More than 146 entities were included in the sanctions, including companies registered in Cambodia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Palau, Laos as well as the British Virgin and Cayman Islands.

Three Singaporeans and 17 Singapore-registered entities were also sanctioned, which effectively bars US persons from conducting any transactions with them and requires the blocking of any property in their possession or under their control.

Hu and Qiu are linked to a group of Prince Group-linked associates who were also named in the June 23 OFAC sanctions.The associates include Dai Dewen, who had legally changed his name to Dai An in 2017 upon receiving his Cambodian citizenship. He was previously a Chinese national.Property records obtained by The Straits Times show that Dai and his wife own a luxury apartment in Leedon Heights. He is also the director of a family office and an investment holding firm in Singapore. Both firms were incorporated in 2022.

Dai currently holds more than $2 million worth of shares in a separate holding company in Singapore. Dai was also formerly a shareholder, under his Chinese passport, in one of Prince Group chairman Chen Zhi’s holding firm in Singapore. Chen Zhi retains US$5 million (S$6.4 million) worth of shares in the company. Another man named in the sanction is Brendon Luo. He is the director and shareholder of an investment firm Infinite Deemarco, which is in the process of being liquidated. The firm has a start-up capital of $5.7 million. The latest penalties follow the first round of sweeping sanctions in October 2025, when the US targeted 146 entities linked to Prince Group, which had also been designated as a transnational criminal organisation. Authorities had accused Prince Group of wire fraud, money laundering and human trafficking on an industrial scale among several charges. At the same time, Washington had severed the Cambodian-based Huione Group from its financial system - alleging that Huione had laundered at least US$4 billion of illicit proceeds between August 2021 and January 2025.The fallout from the sanctions in October have seen the head of Prince Group, Chen Zhi, and the head of Huione Group Li Xiong, arrested by Phnom Penh in January and April. Both men were also extradited to Beijing. In March, SPF said it had arrested three Singaporeans linked to investigations into Prince Group and its associates, after investigations began in 2024.

The three men - Tan Yew Kiat, 49, Nigel Tang Wan Bao Nabil, 32, and Alan Yeo Sin Huat, 53 - are suspected of being involved in money laundering offences related to the criminal organisation.

Tang and Yeo were named in the October 2025 US Treasury sanctions.

A warrant of arrest was also issued against Karen Chen Xiuling, 43, who is believed to be in Cambodia. The Singaporean is linked to Chen Zhi, having been involved in the setting up or running of nearly all his companies in Singapore and Taiwan. Karen Chen is also wanted in Taiwan over similar offences. ST had first reported that Tan, a director in 16 firms including being the owner of a car leasing firm, was arrested on Nov 23, 2025, and that 121 prohibition of disposal orders had been issued against cars registered by his company. ST also revealed that Tan’s 25-year-old daughter was the owner of a 32,000 sq ft commercial building directly linked to Chen Zhi. She is currently assisting with investigations in Singapore.