- Huione Group has closed its Phnom Penh branches and stopped cash withdrawals after being cut off from the international banking system by the U.S. and UK.
- The conglomerate’s marketplace and escrow services have processed billions of dollars in illicit transactions linked to cybercrime.
- At least $4 billion flowed through Huione’s escrow services since 2021, with some estimates exceeding $11 billion, involving entities like North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
- Intensified regulatory measures by U.S. agencies, including FinCEN, signal enhanced enforcement against Cambodia’s extensive online scam economy.
- Huione is tied to Cambodia’s $19 billion-a-year scam industry and offers financial services primarily to Chinese-speaking users.
Branches of the sanctioned Cambodian conglomerate Huione Group closed in Phnom Penh have halted customer cash withdrawals, with images posted on social media showing locked doors and queues on December 1, 2025. This action comes after the U.S. and UK cut Huione off from the international financial system in October to disrupt Cambodia’s estimated $19 billion yearly industrial scam economy. Huione has been described as critical infrastructure for these criminal networks.
U.S. Treasury officials report that at least $4 billion passed through Huione‘s escrow services since 2021. Other estimates state the figure could be “at least” $11 billion. These funds were linked to various cybercrime operations, including North Korea’s Lazarus Group, multiple scam compounds, and the theft of $235 million from WazirX, according to a report.
Analysts note that regulatory pressures have been building for months. These include Cambodia revoking Huione Pay’s banking license in March and the U.S.’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) naming Huione a primary money laundering concern on May 1, 2025. Angela Ang, Head of Policy at TRM Labs Asia-Pacific, said, “Pressure has been building for months—from Cambodia’s revocation of its banking licence to FinCEN’s move to identify Huione as a primary money laundering concern” and that this development may be “the final nail in the coffin.”
Founded around 2014, Huione Group serves primarily Chinese-speaking customers in Cambodia, offering payments, financial transfers, and bill settlements. It gained notoriety for its escrow subsidiary, initially known as Huione Guarantee, which facilitated transactions on its marketplace website and Telegram channels. This marketplace connected buyers and sellers of money laundering services, scam website templates, and restricted items like tasers.
Cambodia has become a hub for large-scale online scams, with the United Nations estimating that over 100,000 people work in scam compounds, often under coercion, as detailed in a UN report. Investigations indicate that Huione’s financial infrastructure has supported these illicit operations.
Despite regulatory actions, including the revocation of licenses and international sanctions, Huione showed resilience. Alternative guarantee services such as Tudou Guarantee, partially owned by Huione, expanded following the shutdown of Telegram channels. The group also launched USDH, a dollar-backed stablecoin operating on Tron and Xone blockchains, with Xone formerly known as Huione Chain and marketed as censorship-resistant.
The full U.S. Treasury statement from October reads, “For years, Huione Group has laundered proceeds of virtual currency scams and heists on behalf of malicious cyber actors”, justifying the decisive action to exclude it from the U.S. financial system, according to official remarks.
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