Brendon Luo was sanctioned in June by the U.S. Treasury Department, which alleged he was an investor in a cyber-scam compound operated by Cambodia's Prince Group. Property records show he still owns a mansion in a gated community in southern California.
The Prince Group is widely accused of involvement in compounds in Cambodia where thousands of trafficked workers were forced to commit industrial-scale cyberfraud. The Prince Group has strongly denied the accusations, but the U.S. has sanctioned more than 140 allegedly-associated entities and individuals, including Luo.
The sanctions have not disrupted Luo’s ownership of a five bedroom mansion in Yorba Linda, a city of about 68,000 people that is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Although no sale price was identified in property records, online real estate portals value the property at roughly $5 million.
Luo was born in China and acquired passports from Cambodia, Vanuatu and Cyprus, according to information from sanctions notices as well as immigration records obtained by OCCRP.
A Cambodian government factsheet distributed to the media in September stated that Luo was the “registered owner” of Legend Innovation Co. Ltd. That company allegedly operated a scam compound named 8Park, which was dismantled this year by Cambodian authorities.
The U.S. sanctions notice alleged that Luo and another individual were “major investors in a Prince Group... scam compound that was used to facilitate fraud operations.”
A Prince Group spokesperson said in an emailed response to questions that the conglomerate has "never had any relationship with Legend Innovation."
“Brendon Luo had no role within the Prince Group of companies, nor was he associated with their operations throughout South Asia,” the spokesperson added.
Legend Innovation was sanctioned separately by the U.K. government in March. The U.K. Treasury said 8Park was “believed to be Cambodia’s largest scam compound, with capacity to accommodate 20,000 trafficked workers”.
Luo did not reply to requests for comment sent to multiple company email addresses, and no one answered calls to phone numbers listed for his Cambodian firms. However, a representative for Luo did respond to questions via the Prince Group spokesperson.
“Mr. Luo did not own Legend Innovation and had no role in it, or the construction or operation of any business that was conducted by it on the land in question,” Luo's representative said. “Mr. Luo has never been associated with, nor had any ownership interest, in the companies referenced, or in their alleged scam operations.”
The representative added that Luo “never held a role of any kind with Prince.”
Luo's California mansion in the “Enclave at Yorba Linda” development is down the street from a property that was owned by Chen Sokly. OCCRP recently identified Chen Sokly as the person referred to as “co-conspirator 2” in a U.S. federal court indictment of Prince Group founder and chairman Chen Zhi. The indictment charges Chen Zhi with alleged wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
American authorities alleged that co-conspirator 2 was a Prince Group “enforcer” who protected the conglomerate’s scam operations from police. Chen Sokly has not been charged in the case.
The Prince Group spokesperson previously told OCCRP that the conglomerate and its chairman were innocent of the U.S. allegations, adding that it was “not a criminal syndicate but a collection of legitimate businesses serving millions of people and employing tens of thousands of people across the globe.”
Luo was listed as a director of Prince Plaza Investment Co. Ltd. In October 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department included that company on a list of sanctioned firms it said were “owned or controlled by, or purport to act for or on behalf of, members of Prince Group TCO [Transnational Criminal Organization].”
As previously reported by OCCRP, Luo’s real estate portfolio also includes a luxury condominium in downtown Tokyo.
