US Treasury Sanctions Huione Group and Seizes Cloud Infrastructure in Crackdown on Cyber Fraud

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced sweeping sanctions and forfeiture actions against Huione Group, a Cambodian financial services conglomerate that enabled the Prince Group—a transnational criminal organization operating compounds in Asia that targeted Americans with romance fraud scams, commonly known as pig butchering operations.

On Tuesday, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated nine individuals and 26 entities linked to the Prince Group. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) amended a prior rule to include H-Pay Service and any successor entities, effectively prohibiting U.S. financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent accounts for Huione Group. The action aims to guard against money laundering risks posed by the group to the U.S. financial system.

“The Trump Administration is united in its efforts to dismantle these overseas criminal enterprises, and Treasury will continue using its tools to disrupt the networks behind this egregious fraud and protect Americans,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.

In coordination with the Treasury, the FBI seized the cloud infrastructure used by Huione to operate its scam. Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm that collaborated in the operation, estimated that Huione Guarantee—a peer-to-peer marketplace run by Huione Group—processed over $70 billion in cryptocurrency over the past five years. The platform provided illicit services and acted as a money laundering front for the Prince Group.

Chainalysis noted that unlike previous actions targeting banking channels, the seizure extended to cloud computing accounts that hosted and supported Huione’s backend systems. “The Huione takedown shows what’s possible when law enforcement and blockchain intelligence work together,” the firm stated. “Criminal networks adapt, and so do we.”

This action represents a significant escalation in efforts to combat cyber fraud and crypto money laundering on a global scale.

Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/us-treasury-hits-huione-group-in-sweeping-push-against-global-cyber-fraud/