OFAC expands scam-network sanctions, adds Cuba listings and delists three individuals
The US Treasury broadened sanctions tied to Southeast Asian cyberfraud, added Cuban state-linked targets, removed three Russia-related designations and issued a wind-down license for a Cambodia bank.
WASHINGTON, June 23, 2026 — The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Tuesday updated its sanctions lists with a package of actions spanning transnational crime, Cuba and Russia, while also publishing new joint guidance with Britain’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.
The most significant part of the action was a new set of Transnational Criminal Organization listings linked to the Prince Group network and Hu Xiaowei, extending a broader US-UK crackdown on Southeast Asia-based cyberfraud operations. Treasury previously described Prince Group as a Cambodia-based criminal network involved in online investment scams, money laundering, human trafficking and related abuse, and said its October 2025 action against the group was the largest sanctions move to date against such networks in the region.
In Tuesday’s update, OFAC added eight individuals to the SDN List, including several Cambodia-, Hong Kong- and China-linked figures tied to Prince Group or Hu Xiaowei. It also added more than two dozen entities, including Cambodia’s CCU Commercial Bank Plc, multiple Hong Kong companies and several UK-registered firms, alongside five Cuba-related additions: one individual and four entities. The Cuba designations included Banco Financiero Internacional S.A., Almacenes Universales S.A., Empresa Siderurgica Jose Marti and Geominera S.A.
OFAC also issued TCO General License 2, authorizing the wind-down of transactions involving CCU Commercial Bank Plc, suggesting Treasury is seeking to manage immediate disruption risk following the bank’s designation.
Separately, OFAC removed three Russia-related entries from the SDN List: Anton Krugovov, Tamara Topchi and Natalya Puzyrnikova. The agency also amended an existing TCO entry to identify Chen Xiao’er as Hu Xiaowei and link him to the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization.
Treasury said OFAC and OFSI also published a comparative overview of the U.S. and U.K. sanctions regimes, focused on issues including sanctions lists, licensing, recordkeeping and reporting. The document appears aimed at helping compliance teams navigate the two systems as Washington and London deepen coordination.
Regulatory Actions
Structured data extracted from official sources and validated by sanctions experts