FinCEN Claims Huione Group Laundered $4 Billion
FinCEN claims that the Huione Group has laundered around $4 billion worth of illegal profits during August 2021 and January 2025.
Treasury Department’s Ban on Huione Group
The claims led the Treasury Department to ban the Group from having access to the American banking system.
The US Treasury Department wants to ban the Cambodia-based Huione Group from having access to the American banking system. The Department also claimed that the Group helped a hacker group from North Korea in laundering cryptocurrency.
Proposal from FinCEN
On May 1, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) made a proposal to ban financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent or payable-through accounts for or on behalf of the Huione Group.
Scott Bessent’s Statements
Scott Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary, revealed that the Huione Group has set itself up as the trading center of choice for bad actors such as the Lazarus Group. The group was accused of stealing billions of dollars from Native Americans.
He further went on to add that the proposed action will cut off the access of Huione Group to corresponding banking, diminishing the capability of these groups to launder funds.
Huione’s Deep Ties To Cybercrime
Also, Huione Group has established a network of businesses, including payment service platform Huione Pay PLC, a crypto exchange Huione Crypto, and Haowang Guarantee, a Telegram-based marketplace serving fraudsters.
However, the aggregate does not hold any correspondent accounts with US financial institutions; it maintains accounts with foreign companies that are involved in this, as FinCEN mentioned in its proposal.
Public Comment Period
The proposal is open for public comment for 30 days before coming into full effect. As per the claims of FinCEN, the Huione Group has laundered around $4 billion worth of illegal profits during August 2021 and January 2025.
Details of Laundered Funds
It also included over $36 million from pig butchering scams. Around $37 million worth of crypto was directly associated with the cyber criminals of North Korea. The Treasury also noted that criminals associated with the Huione Group laundered crypto through illegal activities and eventually converted it into fiat currency.
National Bank of Cambodia’s Announcement
The National Bank of Cambodia also announced that payment firms are not permitted to deal or trade virtual assets within the country and canceled the local banking license of the company this March.
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