When the United States announced sweeping sanctions against Cambodia’s powerful Prince Group in October, the move was framed as a decisive strike against what Washington labeled a “Transnational Criminal Organization.” The conglomerate, with more than 100 companies spread across 30 countries, was accused of operating cyber-scam compounds built on human trafficking, forced labor, and industrial-scale fraud. Yet buried deep within the sanctions notice was a name that appeared almost incidental: Chen Xiao’er, described merely as a business partner of Prince Group founder and chairman Chen Zhi in a single overseas project.

Subsequent investigative reporting has now revealed that this characterization was profoundly incomplete. The man sanctioned as Chen Xiao’er is not a marginal associate, but a figure who has operated under at least four identities, held multiple citizenships, and played a far more substantial role in the Prince Group’s corporate ecosystem than US authorities publicly acknowledged. His real name, according to corporate registries and passport records, is Hu Xiaowei-and his story provides a rare window into how alleged transnational criminal networks operate behind layers of legal entities, offshore passports, and carefully managed public narratives.

OCCRP investigations have confirmed that Hu Xiaowei, Hu Shi, Chen Xiao’er, and Wu An Ming are all identities used by the same individual. These names are not mere transliteration variants or casual pseudonyms; they correspond to distinct passports, citizenships, and corporate records across jurisdictions as varied as China, Cyprus, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Cambodia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Hu Xiaowei was born in 1982 in China’s Jiangsu province. His first known public appearance dates back to 2011, when Chinese state media accused him of leading the so-called “Knight Attack Group,” a criminal hacking collective. According to official reports, the group infiltrated the servers of a popular online video game, redirected traffic through their own systems, and siphoned off advertising revenue worth more than $10 million. While authorities arrested and convicted several members, Hu reportedly evaded capture and fled China.

He resurfaced years later under different circumstances. In 2016, Chinese media reported that Hu was arrested again-this time for allegedly running an online gambling operation valued at approximately $850 million. The outcome of that case remains unclear, but by 2017 Hu was no longer in China. Instead, he appeared in the United States as a director and shareholder in a medical investment company, New World Technology II Inc.

According to Carl Rausch, an American biotech entrepreneur who partnered with Hu in that venture, Hu believed his legal troubles stemmed not from gambling itself but from refusing to share profits with corrupt officials. Rausch told reporters that Hu deliberately acquired new citizenships and identities to escape the reach of Chinese law enforcement, even setting up a Cyprus-based company to gain access to the European Union.

Hu Xiaowei’s trajectory illustrates how citizenship-by-investment programs can be exploited by wealthy individuals seeking legal and geographic flexibility. In 2017, Hu applied for Cypriot citizenship under his birth name. He was granted a passport in 2018 through a program that has since been shut down amid corruption scandals. Yet corporate records show that by 2019, the name on his Cypriot passport had shifted to Hu Shi.

That same year, he acquired citizenship from Saint Kitts and Nevis under the name Chen Xiao’er. By 2020, even that name was changed, becoming Wu An Ming. Meanwhile, Cambodia granted him citizenship under his original name, Hu Xiaowei, in January 2020. Two years later, Cambodian authorities went a step further, appointing him as an advisor “with a rank equivalent to minister” to Heng Samrin, then president of the National Assembly.

The passports tell a striking story. OCCRP obtained a copy of the Saint Kitts and Nevis passport issued under Chen Xiao’er. The photograph matches images of Hu Xiaowei published in Chinese media, corporate filings, and materials he provided directly to reporters. Birth details align perfectly. The conclusion is unavoidable: one man, many names, each strategically deployed in different legal and commercial contexts.

The Prince Group itself presents a dual image. Publicly, it describes itself as a diversified multinational conglomerate with investments in real estate, finance, entertainment, and infrastructure. Privately-according to US, UK, and South Korean authorities-it allegedly operates cyber-scam compounds in Cambodia where trafficked workers are held in conditions amounting to modern slavery and forced to defraud victims worldwide.

When sanctions were announced, Hu Xiaowei appeared as a minor figure. Under the name Chen Xiao’er, he was cited only for co-owning a company with Chen Zhi that planned to develop a luxury resort in Palau. Through his assistant, Hu claimed that this Palau venture was his sole business connection to the Prince Group chairman.

But corporate records tell a different story.

Documents from China show that as early as 2015, Hu Xiaowei and Chen Zhi were both shareholders in Zhongjing Technology Investment Co. Ltd. This relationship predates the Palau project by years and places Hu directly alongside Chen Zhi during a formative period of the Prince Group’s expansion.

Under yet another identity-Hu Shi-Hu was listed as the sole shareholder of two Singapore-based firms: Alphaconnect Investment Pte Ltd. and Alphaconnect Investment Pte II Ltd. These companies were not peripheral. They were among the 146 entities sanctioned by the US. Treasury as part of the Prince Group crackdown.

The Alphaconnect companies played a key role in the Prince Group’s real estate activities, particularly in Taiwan. In 2019, these Singaporean firms were shareholders in Taiwanese companies that purchased luxury apartments in Taipei’s Peace Palace tower block. They acted alongside six other Taiwanese firms, all controlled through Singaporean holding companies owned by senior Prince Group executives-including Chen Zhi himself.

In a telling move, all eight Taiwanese companies were transferred to Chen Zhi’s control within a two-month period in 2021. The consolidation suggests coordinated internal restructuring rather than arm’s-length transactions, reinforcing the idea of a tightly managed corporate network.

Despite this, US sanctions targeted only Karen Chen Xiuling, a director of the Alphaconnect firms, while omitting Hu Shi-their sole shareholder. Corporate records listed Hu Shi’s residential address as a $15 million coastal villa in Hong Kong, owned under his Saint Kitts and Nevis identity. The omission raises questions about how effectively sanctions regimes track individuals who deliberately fragment their identities across borders.

Perhaps the most striking allegations come from Taiwan. Under his birth name, Hu Xiaowei is reportedly under investigation there for playing a central role in the Prince Group. Local media have cited prosecutors describing him as “second in command” to Chen Zhi. While Taiwanese authorities have not publicly linked Hu Xiaowei to his other aliases, the claim suggests a level of authority far beyond that of a casual business partner.

Additional insight comes from Teo Kang Yeow Cliff, a Singaporean who previously managed several Prince Group companies. Teo alleges that Hu Xiaowei was a figure of considerable influence within the organization and that Chen Zhi regarded him as a mentor.

“Hu Xiaowei is the person who brought Chen Zhi into the business-online gaming,” Teo told OCCRP. “He’s a ‘big brother.’ That’s what Chen always said.”

Teo’s own story is complex and contested. He was sued in Taiwan by four Prince Group firms for alleged embezzlement, lost the case, and now faces an arrest warrant. He denies the accusations, claiming he was drawn into what he believed were legitimate ventures and later distanced himself when he began to suspect criminal activity. While his testimony must be treated cautiously, it aligns with documentary evidence showing Hu Xiaowei’s deep integration into the Prince Group’s structure.

Beyond real estate, Hu Xiaowei’s business footprint extends into aviation. OCCRP previously reported that he owns aircraft leasing companies, several of whose jets were leased to Cambodia Airways. That airline, according to Radio Free Asia, was described by its own communications officer as being part of the Prince Group.

Such connections highlight how alleged criminal conglomerates can blur the line between legitimate commercial activity and illicit operations. Airlines, real estate, and investment vehicles provide not only revenue streams but also logistical support, political influence, and a veneer of respectability.

The US Treasury Department’s sanctions notice treated Hu Xiaowei-under the name Chen Xiao’er-as a relatively minor player. Yet the evidence uncovered since then paints a picture of a man embedded in the Prince Group’s core businesses, from technology and gaming roots to real estate, aviation, and international expansion.

There is no public indication that Hu Xiaowei is among the unnamed co-conspirators referenced in a US indictment against Chen Zhi and others. Still, the discrepancy between his documented role and his limited treatment in sanctions raises broader questions. How many other figures within transnational criminal networks remain only partially exposed because they operate through layers of aliases and jurisdictions? And how effective can sanctions be if they target names rather than the people behind them?

The case of Hu Xiaowei underscores a central challenge in confronting alleged transnational criminal organizations: identity itself has become a tool. By fragmenting his presence across multiple passports, names, and corporate entities, Hu was able to move capital, acquire influence, and embed himself in powerful networks while remaining largely invisible to regulators.

What began as a footnote in a sanctions list has now emerged as a case study in how modern conglomerates-legitimate on paper, allegedly criminal in practice-are built and maintained. Whether further legal action follows remains uncertain. But one thing is clear: behind the maze of shell companies and citizenships, the story of Hu Xiaowei reveals how deeply interconnected and resilient such networks can be-and how much remains hidden in plain sight.

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