Views: 6
U.S. to Sanction Cambodian Financial Firm over Alleged N. Korean Crypto Laundering.
The United States is proposing sanctions against a Cambodian financial institution it accuses of laundering funds obtained illegally by North Korea through cryptocurrency hacking.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network announced plans to designate Huione Group as being of principal money laundering concern and block its access to the U.S. financial system.
In a statement, the Treasury Department said the financial firm is a significant node in the money laundering ecosystem, having laundered at least four billion U.S. dollars between August 2021 and January 2025.
The department also included at least 37 million dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency it said North Koreans stole through hacking and 36 million dollars in cryptocurrency it accused Huione Group of obtaining through online fraud operations in Southeast Asia.
Huione Pay, an affiliate of Huione Group, is also reported to have received more than 150-thousand dollars in virtual currency from a digital wallet used by the North Korean hacking group Lazarus between June 2023 and February 2024.
