LOC20:26
17:26 GMT
WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (KUNA) -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), in close coordination with the United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), took on Tuesday complementary actions against criminal networks responsible for targeting citizens of the United States and other allied nations through online scams and the laundering of stolen funds.
The OFAC has imposed sweeping sanctions on 146 targets within the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization (Prince Group TCO), a Cambodia-based network led by Cambodian national Chen Zhi that operates a transnational criminal empire through online investment scams targeting Americans and others worldwide, the Department of the Treasury said in a statement.
In addition, FinCEN finalized a rule under section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act to sever the Cambodia-based financial services conglomerate, Huione Group, from the U.S. financial system. For years, Huione Group has laundered proceeds of virtual currency scams and heists on behalf of malicious cyber actors, it added.
"The rapid rise of transnational fraud has cost American citizens billions of dollars, with life savings wiped out in minutes," said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. "Treasury is taking action to protect Americans by cracking down on foreign scammers. Working in close coordination with federal law enforcement and international partners like the United Kingdom, Treasury will continue to lead efforts to safeguard Americans from predatory criminals."
U.S. losses to online investment scams have steadily increased over the last several years, totaling over USD 16.6 billion, the Depatment noted.
A U.S. government estimate indicated that Americans lost at least USD 10 billion to Southeast Asia-based scam operations in 2024, a 66 percent increase over the prior year, with scams like those perpetrated by Prince Group TCO being particularly significant, it stated.
Over the course of the past decade, transnational organized criminal groups, like Prince Group TCO, have established profitable cyberfraud operations across Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia. Prince Group TCO remains a dominant player in Cambodia's scam economy and has controlled illicit financial flows of billions of dollars.
The actions taken by OFAC and FinCEN were in close coordination with the U.K.'s FCDO, which took complementary actions against criminal networks responsible for targeting citizens of the United States and other allied nations through online scams and the laundering of stolen funds.
The U.K.'s FCDO has concurrently imposed sanctions on Prince Holding Group, Chen Zhi, and his key associates. Today's bilateral sanctions actions are accompanied by the unsealing of a criminal indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against Chen Zhi.
This coordinated action is the result of close coordination between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, as well as the U.K.'s FCDO.
Alongside today's coordinated sanctions action, Treasury's FinCEN issued a section 311 final rule that severs Huione Group from the U.S. financial system.
As described in the final rule, Huione Group serves as a critical node for laundering proceeds of cyber heists carried out by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and for TCOs in Southeast Asia perpetrating virtual currency investment scams, commonly known as "pig butchering" scams, among others. Significantly, Huione Group laundered at least USD 4 billion worth of illicit proceeds between August 2021 and January 2025.
Of the USD four billion worth of illicit proceeds, FinCEN found that Huione Group laundered at least $37 million worth of virtual currency stemming from DPRK cyber heists, at least USD 36 million from virtual currency investment scams, and USD 300 million worth of virtual currency from other cyber scams.
By finalizing this rule, covered financial institutions are now prohibited from opening or maintaining correspondent accounts for or on behalf of Huione Group, and are required to take reasonable steps not to process transactions for the correspondent account of a foreign banking institution in the United States if such a transaction involves Huione Group, preventing indirect access by Huione Group to the U.S. financial system. (end)
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