Tokyo police arrest suspected executive of major Asian fraud ring
Investigators will examine Prince Group’s Japan activities after Hu Xiaowei and two others were held over a Chuo Ward residency notice.
- Tokyo police have arrested Hu Xiaowei, a suspected executive of the major Cambodia-based fraud organisation, Prince Group.
- The arrest was made on allegations that Hu and two others submitted a false residency notification to a Tokyo ward office.
- Hu, a Cypriot national, allegedly filed the false paperwork in an attempt to obtain permanent residency in Japan.
- The Prince Group is a significant international fraud ring that is under U.S. sanctions for alleged money laundering and other crimes.
Tokyo police have arrested three people, including Hu Xiaowei, a man believed to be an executive of Cambodia-based Prince Group, one of Asia’s largest international fraud organisations, over allegations that they submitted a false move-in notification, investigative sources said on Monday (22 June).
Those held by the Metropolitan Police Department include Hu, a 44-year-old Cypriot national and business owner whose home address is unknown, and Li Yin Hong, a 31-year-old Chinese company employee living in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward, the sources said.
The MPD will investigate Prince Group’s activities in Japan.
The organisation has been placed under US sanctions.
According to arrest warrants, the three suspects conspired to submit a false notification of Hu’s residency in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward to the ward office in April.
Li allegedly visited the office to file the notice.
Hu told police that he had moved his residency registration to Tokyo “to obtain permanent residency in Japan”, while saying he did not know the details because he had “left the procedures to an agent”.
Hu had frequently visited Japan under the residency status of a highly skilled professional.
He was arrested in Osaka, western Japan, after the allegations were discovered following his visit to the country last October.
According to a corporate registry, Hu established a trading company with capital of 8 million yen in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward in April 2023.
The company moved its head office to Chiyoda Ward in April 2024, and its capital was increased to 50 million yen in March this year.
US authorities designated Prince Group as subject to sanctions in October 2025 over alleged wrongdoing, including money laundering, and charged its chairman, Chen Zhi.
The Cambodian government detained Chen in January and handed him over to Chinese authorities.
