The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed actions Thursday to sever Cambodia-based Huione Group from the U.S. financial system.
“For years, Huione Group has laundered illicit proceeds from cybercrimes,” the agency said in a notice of proposed rulemaking under Section 311 of the Patriot Act, identifying Huione as a “primary money laundering concern.”
Section 311 provides the U.S. Treasury Secretary with “a range of options” that can be adapted to target specific money laundering and terrorist financing risks.
Huione Group is a Cambodia-based financial conglomerate headquartered in Phnom Penh. Its portfolio includes digital payment services, crypto platforms, and insurance operations.
The designation targets Huione’s network of businesses, including Huione Pay PLC, Huione Crypto, and Haowang Guarantee, the regulatory bureau said.
The Cambodia-based conglomerate allegedly served as a “critical node” for “laundering proceeds” from North Korean cyber operations and Southeast Asian criminal organizations running “pig butchering” investment scams, per the government network’s announcement.
Huione Group has been “the marketplace of choice” for threat actors and criminal syndicates who have “stolen billions of dollars from everyday Americans,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated in the announcement.
The proposed rule would prohibit U.S. financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent accounts if implemented.
Bessent added that the action would “sever Huione Group’s access to correspondent banking, degrading these groups’ ability to launder their ill-gotten gains.”
Cyber heists, cyber scams
According to FinCEN’s investigation, Huione Group allegedly processed approximately $4 billion worth of potentially illicit proceeds between August 2021 and January 2025.
The agency claims this included at least $37 million reportedly linked to North Korean cyberheists, $36 million from crypto investment scams, and $300 million from other types of cyber scams.
FinCEN alleges Huione operated with either absent or ineffective anti-money laundering and know-your-customer protocols. It further claims that Huione Group acknowledged deficiencies in its procedures after allegedly receiving funds indirectly connected to North Korean cyber operations.
Earlier in January, the National Bank of Cambodia revoked Huione Pay’s license. In the same month, Google pulled Huione Guarantee, a Telegram-based app, after an investigation by Elliptic revealed its illicit connections in July last year.
The notice of proposed rulemaking remains open for public comment for 30 days following its publication in the Federal Register, FinCEN noted.
Decrypt has reached out to FinCEN for comments. Huione Group has no publicly available e-mail address.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
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