Trump's Crypto Venture Partnered With Company Whose "Flagship Project" Was Run by Sanctioned Criminals

The Deal

In November 2024, World Liberty Financial (WLFI) -- the cryptocurrency venture co-founded by Donald Trump and owned 38% by his family -- announced it was "partnering" with AB DAO, a southeast Asian crypto company. Under the arrangement, WLFI's USD1 stablecoin would be listed on AB DAO's blockchain ledger.

There was just one problem: At the time of the announcement, AB DAO was actively promoting what it called its "flagship project" -- a blockchain-themed resort in East Timor. And that resort project had been founded and majority-owned by people the US government had just sanctioned as members of a massive criminal enterprise.

The Sanctioned Criminals

One month before the WLFI partnership announcement, on October 14, the US and UK governments unveiled coordinated sanctions against Chen Zhi, the Chinese-born Cambodian founder of the Prince Group conglomerate, along with his business associates. The Treasury Department and FBI described the Prince Group as "one of the largest transnational criminal organizations in Asia."

According to a federal indictment, the Prince Group's primary profit source is a network of "scam centers" across Cambodia staffed by thousands of trafficked workers forced to conduct romance fraud schemes that have cost Americans billions of dollars. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called them "predatory criminals" who wipe out victims' life savings "in minutes."

Among those sanctioned on October 17 was Yang Jian, who at the time owned 60% of AB Digital Technology Resort Lda -- the corporate entity behind AB DAO's "flagship" East Timor resort project. Another 38% was owned by Chen Zhao, who is married to Hu Xiaowei, also sanctioned in October for his alleged Prince Group role.

The Timeline Problem

Here's where it gets damning: From June 2024 until January 2025, AB DAO's website prominently featured a page advertising the AB Resort as a "flagship project of the AB Charity Foundation," AB DAO's charitable arm. The page announced plans to "build the world's first national-level blockchain theme resort in Timor-Leste."

Yang Jian was removed as majority owner of the resort project on October 20 -- three days after he was sanctioned. But when WLFI announced its partnership with AB DAO in November, the resort was still being promoted as AB DAO's signature initiative, and had been run by sanctioned individuals just weeks earlier.

By WLFI's own admission, the company had no idea that people Trump's government had just denounced as "predatory criminals" had recently been running AB DAO's marquee project.

The Due Diligence Question

A WLFI spokesperson told The Times that the company "conducts due diligence on all third parties it engages with" and that "these checks are carried out before integrating USD1 on any blockchain protocol, including AB Chain."

But if that due diligence was conducted, it apparently failed to discover that AB DAO's self-described "flagship project" had been founded and controlled by individuals sanctioned by the US government just weeks earlier. The company claims it didn't know about the connection until after the partnership was announced.

This is particularly remarkable given the public and aggressive nature of the October sanctions. Treasury Secretary Bessent personally announced the crackdown, emphasizing that the government would "continue to lead efforts to safeguard Americans from predatory criminals." The FBI called the Prince Group one of Asia's largest criminal organizations. This wasn't a quiet regulatory action buried in paperwork -- it was front-page news.

The Cleanup

After the Times began asking questions, things moved quickly. Kasey Ye, the new majority owner of AB Digital Technology Resort, said that after the company became aware Yang Jian had been sanctioned, "we immediately terminated our cooperation with them." The webpage promoting the resort as AB DAO's flagship project was deleted from AB DAO's website sometime in January.

By the time WLFI's partnership became public, none of the sanctioned individuals was formally connected to the resort company on paper. But the timing raises obvious questions: Did WLFI know about the recent connections and proceed anyway? Or did the company's due diligence process somehow miss that its new partner's signature project had just been run by sanctioned criminals?

The Broader Pattern

This isn't an isolated lapse. World Liberty Financial exists to sell access to the Trump presidency through cryptocurrency. The company's entire business model is built on the premise that buying WLFI tokens gives investors proximity to presidential power. Trump is listed as "co-founder emeritus." His family owns more than a third of the company.

The AB DAO partnership fits a clear pattern: The Trump family launches a barely-regulated financial venture, rushes to announce deals that create the appearance of legitimacy and momentum, and conducts due diligence that is either nonexistent or so cursory it misses glaring red flags.

In this case, the red flag was that the US government -- Trump's own government -- had just sanctioned the people behind AB DAO's flagship project as members of a transnational criminal organization that traffics workers and defrauds Americans out of billions.

What Happens Now

As of publication, WLFI has not announced any change to its relationship with AB DAO. The USD1 stablecoin remains listed on AB Chain. The company maintains that it conducted proper due diligence and that it had no knowledge of the sanctioned individuals' recent involvement with AB DAO's resort project.

But for a crypto venture co-founded by the sitting president to partner with a company whose marquee project was just run by people his own Treasury Department called "predatory criminals" raises fundamental questions about conflicts of interest, oversight, and whether the Trump family is more interested in cashing in on the presidency than protecting American investors.

The Prince Group denies all allegations. Chen Zhi was extradited from Cambodia to China in January and has not been charged. Yang Jian, Chen Zhao, and Hu Xiaowei could not be reached for comment.

What's clear is this: One month after the US government announced a major crackdown on an alleged transnational criminal organization, a business co-founded by the president announced a partnership with a company whose flagship project had just been run by sanctioned members of that same organization. And by WLFI's own admission, they had no idea.