Hu Xiaowei, an associate of the Prince Group in Cambodia, has been sanctioned by the UK

According to Caixin, after being detained for more than two months, the UK has further imposed sanctions on a Southeast Asian fraud network, which includes Hu Xiaowei, who is closely associated with Chen Zhi, the founder of the Prince Group. The UK government refers to Hu Xiaowei as "Chen Zhi's long-term collaborator" in the Prince Group, with their association originating from the "Legend" private server, and later jointly establishing companies both domestically and internationally.

The UK government website announced this sanction information on March 26, targeting multiple individuals and entities related to the Prince Group. Chen Zhi, 38, is the founder of the Prince Group, hailing from a fishing village in Fujian. He previously operated an internet café and worked as a network administrator, starting out by hacking and "robbing" the "Legend" private server. He moved to Southeast Asia over a decade ago and changed his nationality to Cambodian, quickly controlling a global telecom fraud network, earning millions daily in his duke position, with a net worth of several billion dollars. The Bitcoin seized by the US alone is valued at $15 billion. At the height of his power, Chen Zhi also expanded his operations in Singapore, the UK, and Taiwan, China. In early January 2026, he was stripped of his Cambodian nationality and extradited back to China for multiple crimes, including fraud, illegal business operations, and concealing criminal proceeds.