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An alleged member of Prince Group — the Cambodia-based conglomerate the U.S. calls a “transnational criminal organization” — owns at least $17-million worth of London properties, company and land records show.
Yang Jian was named in a sanctions notice last year in a list of 146 U.S. Department of the Treasury targets for alleged online fraud and human trafficking by the Prince Group.
Records show that Yang Jian purchased a dozen house units and at least 17 car parking spaces in an adjoining garage through a U.K. company he established with his Cypriot passport in December 2021.
Conveyancing documents filed with the U.K. Land Registry show that the company, DSRR Limited, purchased these assets all at once in November 2022, for a combined price tag of £12.7 million (about $17 million).
Yang Jian did not respond before publication to emailed requests for comment sent to his lawyers and company secretaries in Hong Kong.
OCCRP reporters who visited the property found the 12 adjoining houses fenced off in a gated, private road in a quiet corner of Rotherhithe, a district in South London, with a view of the Canary Wharf financial district skyline directly across the River Thames.
Reporters were unable to directly access the property, but it was clear that at least some of these units were occupied or in use.
Yang Jian’s 12 adjoining properties in Rotherhithe, southeast London.
Yang Jian, who is also a Chinese citizen but acquired Cypriot citizenship in 2019, has not been sanctioned by the U.K. He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for his involvement in Grand Legend International Asset Management Co Ltd., a Palau-based company part-owned by Chen Zhi, chairman of the Prince Group.
Documents from Grand Legend International, which allegedly participated in criminal operations, list Yang Jian as a director and shareholder of the company, along with Chen Zhi and another alleged member of Prince Group, Chen Xiaoer, whose birth name is Hu Xiaowei.
OCCRP has reported extensively on Hu Xiaowei’s $45-million U.K. property portfolio and his global businesses, and uncovered his multiple identities and alleged involvement with Prince Group.
OCCRP previously contacted Hu Xiaowei for comment via his assistant, who did not respond to questions about his multiple identities. The assistant told OCCRP that Hu Xiaowei was a “long-time acquaintance” of Chen Zhi, and their only business together — a resort in Palau — was “unjustly sanctioned.”
Chinese company registries also show that, beyond their Prince Group affiliations, both Hu Xiaowei and Yang Jian shared overlapping company interests dating back to the early 2010s. Reporters also found that Yang Jian, under his Chinese citizenship, continues to hold active stakes in Hong Kong companies.
Another sanctioned Prince Group associate, Zhu Zhongbiao, purchased at least 29 prestige properties in Dubai, while his wife bought five luxury apartments in London, OCCRP reporting shows. Neither Zhu nor his wife have responded to OCCRP’s requests to comment.
The discovery of Yang’s London properties comes amid growing action to dismantle the operations of Prince Group. Following sanctions by the U.S., U.K. and South Korea against alleged members of the organization, Prince Group Chairman Chen Zhi was arrested in Cambodia and extradited to China in early January.
The Prince Group has denied any involvement in illegal activity, saying in a statement last November: “The recent allegations are baseless and appear aimed at justifying the unlawful seizure of assets worth billions of dollars.”
This week, Singapore announced it had made three arrests and seized Prince Group assets and Taiwan indicted 62 people linked to the organization, OCCRP reported.
China’s Ministry of Public Security subsequently issued a February 15 deadline for those suspected of involvement in Prince Group to surrender and confess their crimes to police in exchange for light or mitigated punishments.