World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a crypto company co-owned by the Trump family, has recently announced a partnership with a blockchain network called AB. This partnership comes less than a month after the US government imposed sanctions on over 140 individuals and entities linked to what it described as one of Asia’s largest criminal organizations.
However, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), AB’s flagship resort project in East Timor involved three individuals who were sanctioned in the crackdown. This has raised concerns about the due diligence process in Trump-affiliated crypto deals.
The Partnership and Its Connections to a Sanctioned Project
The collaboration between World Liberty Financial and AB was announced on November 12, 2025. As part of the partnership, AB will be integrating World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin onto its blockchain network.
AB had been promoting a planned “blockchain theme resort” in Timor-Leste, which had ties to individuals sanctioned by the US Treasury. These individuals, including Yang Jian, Yang Yanming, and Shih Ting-yu, were removed from the resort company after the sanctions were announced.
The Prince Group, a Cambodia-based company accused of operating fraudulent schemes, was linked to the individuals involved in the Timor-Leste project.
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The Individuals Behind AB and World Liberty’s Response
According to the WSJ report, AB presents itself as a decentralized network with entities in Ireland and the Cayman Islands. However, two ethnic Chinese businessmen, Sui Chenggang and Lin Xiaofan, were identified as key figures in the network.
Sui signed a memorandum of understanding with World Liberty in September 2025, claiming that the Timor-Leste resort was not discussed during the negotiations.
World Liberty’s legal team stated that they conducted due diligence on AB and were not aware of the resort or the individuals involved. They only learned about AB’s connection to the East Timor project in January 2026.
“Claims linking World Liberty Financial to sanctioned individuals are baseless and false,” the lawyers asserted.
AB mentioned that the resort project was part of a separate memorandum of understanding which was canceled before reaching a significant implementation stage.
World Liberty has also been embroiled in a legal dispute with Tron founder Justin Sun, who accused the WLFI team of freezing his tokens without justification. The company maintains that the issue will be resolved in court.