Elliptic, a British blockchain analysis company, exposes a marketplace called HuiOne Guarantee, which also involves Hun To, cousin of current Prime Minister Hun Manet. Chinese groups are involved in the illicit business. Worth US$ 11 billion dollars, it ranges from money laundering to pig butchering scams.
Phnom Penh (AsiaNews) - Cryptocurrency experts have discovered that an online marketplace called HuiOne Guarantee is used by a vast network of cybercriminals in Southeast Asia, especially in Cambodia, who exploit various types of online scams, including the pig butchering scam, to fuel the criminal business.
According to a report by Elliptic (a British blockchain analytics company with offices in London, New York, and Singapore), the platform's merchants offer “technology, data and money laundering services s" used for illicit transactions "totaling at least billion".
For Elliptic, which reported the new cryptocurrency-related scandal, the virtual area where exchanges take place is an integral part of HuiOne Group, a Cambodian conglomerate whose executives have forged close ties with the Hun family, from the father Hun Sen, who served as prime minister for decades, to his son Manet, who succeeded him in 2023.
In particular, Hun To, cousin to the current prime minister, heads one of the units of the HuiOne Group linked to crypto fraud. Precisely this link, according to experts, makes investigations more complicated and risks letting criminals go unpunished.
In addition, another HuiOne business, HuiOne International Payments, is involved globally in laundering proceeds from scams.
Online scams have led to the theft of tens of billions of dollars from millions of victims around the world.
The most common scheme is the pig butchering scam, whereby scammers "fatten up" victims in fake investment programs and then steal what they have accumulated.
Other scams involve Ponzi schemes, impersonation of family members and sextortion.
According to a report by the US Institute of Peace, many of these scams are perpetrated by transnational organised groups originating in China, operating in Southeast Asian countries, especially Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines, and Cambodia, exploiting regional conflicts, corruption, and the growth of lawless special economic zones.
According to its website, HuiOne's financial services arm is said to have 500,000 registered users. It also touts Alipay, Huawei, PayGo Wallet, UnionPay, and Yes Seatel as its customers.
In some cases, unwitting people in Asia and Africa are lured to the region with the promise of well-paying jobs, only to be trapped in scam compounds run by Chinese thugs who also use electric shackles to keep migrant workers from escaping.
This practice, the US institute points out, is spreading rapidly across Asia.
Founded in 2021, HuiOne Guarantee includes a network of thousands of instant messaging app channels on Telegram operated by different merchants.
Although it claims to serve as a marketplace for real estate and cars, according to Elliptic, most of the goods and services offered are for cyber scam operators.
“The largest category of merchants operating on HuiOne Guarantee are those offering to move and exchange money," the company explained.
"Many of the merchants explicitly offer money laundering services, including accepting payments from victims around the world, transferring it across borders and converting it to other assets including cash, stablecoins, and to Chinese payment apps."
According to data shared by SlowMist in early January, merchants associated with HuiOne Guarantee have reportedly carried out additional cryptocurrency transactions with a wallet that received more than 4.6 million USDT from another wallet linked to the Myanmar Alliance Army.
"The value of cryptocurrency received by HuiOne Guarantee and its merchants, and the type of goods and services offered, suggest that it is a key enabler of cyber scam operators in Southeast Asia," Elliptic said.
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