World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the cryptocurrency company part-owned by members of the Trump family, announced a partnership with a blockchain network called AB less than a month after the U.S. government sanctioned more than 140 individuals and entities tied to what it described as one of Asia’s largest criminal organizations.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), AB’s flagship resort project in Timor-Leste involved three people who were included in those sanctions, raising questions about the depth of due diligence in crypto deals linked to the Trump family.
The Partnership and Its Links to Sanctioned Individuals
The partnership, announced on November 12, 2025, granted AB the right to carry World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin on its blockchain network. AB described the move as strengthening the platform’s “DeFi and payments ecosystem.” The WSJ reported, however, that AB had previously been promoting plans for a “blockchain theme resort” in Timor-Leste that had close ties to individuals the U.S. Treasury later blacklisted.
The resort company, AB Digital Technology Resort, was majority-owned by Yang Jian, a Cyprus citizen sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury. The Treasury alleges Yang assisted Prince Group CEO Chen Zhi in developing a separate resort in Palau that it labeled a “predatory investment.” The resort’s general manager, Yang Yanming, and a Taiwanese national, Shih Ting-yu, who was identified as working on the project, were also sanctioned. Corporate records show all three were removed from the company shortly after the October 14 sanctions, and none have been criminally charged.
The Prince Group, based in Cambodia, has been accused by U.S. authorities of operating at least ten violent scam compounds. The group is alleged to have stolen billions from victims through “pig butchering” schemes, a form of long-term online fraud in which perpetrators cultivate relationships with victims before defrauding them.
Who’s Behind AB and What World Liberty Says
The WSJ report describes AB as presenting itself as a decentralized network with entities in Ireland and the Cayman Islands. Investigators, however, identified two ethnic Chinese businessmen as central figures: Sui Chenggang, the beneficial owner of AB’s Cayman Islands company, and Lin Xiaofan, a Guangdong-born entrepreneur who holds a St. Kitts and Nevis passport and says he introduced Sui to World Liberty executives.
Sui signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with World Liberty on September 17, 2025, and has said the Timor-Leste resort “was not discussed” in those talks. World Liberty’s legal team maintains that the company conducted due diligence on AB and was “not made aware of the resort or people behind it.” World Liberty says it only learned of AB’s connection to the Timor-Leste project in January 2026.
“Claims attempting to link World Liberty Financial with sanctioned individuals are unfounded and untrue,” the company’s lawyers said.
AB has said the resort plan stemmed from a separate memorandum of understanding that was canceled in November before it reached a substantive implementation stage.
World Liberty has faced scrutiny on other fronts as well. The company was sued by Tron founder Justin Sun, who alleged that WLFI team members froze his tokens and threatened to burn them without justification. WLFI says the dispute will be resolved in court.