Cambodia’s $19 billion financial fraud empire has been fueled by crypto, Watchdog Group says

Cambodian ruling elites are entangled in a global fraud economy with crypto, according to a new report tied to a multi-billion-dollar laundry network and platform built to avoid surveillance of senior government officials.

High-ranking members of the Cambodian People’s Party helped to enable and benefit from cross-border fraud schemes that rely on trafficked labor and untrackableness Cryptocurrencyaccording to a May 16 report published by Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC), an organization that opposes human trafficking.

In particular, one of the Huione Groups has been chosen as a key infrastructure for what the report calls the “vertical integration” fraud industry, which currently represents $19 billion a year, or 60% of Cambodia’s GDP.

“Cambodia is likely to be the absolute global epicenter of the next generation of fraud in 2025,” wrote Jacob Sims, author of the report and visiting fellow at Harvard University Asia Centre.

The Sims denounce the state of fraudulent compounds, human trafficking and providing “systematic and insidious” support to criminal networks operating behind crypto rails.

According to the US Treasury, there is a cousin of Prime Minister Hummet sitting on the board of directors of Huione Group, the parent company of Huione Group, the parent company of Huione Group, the telegram-based escrow platform. The HRC has also appointed the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Home Affairs as co-investments in one of Cambodia’s biggest fraud compounds.

Decryption We will reach out to the Minister’s office and update the story if they respond.

The “focus” of crypto fraud

The HRC findings are consistent with the UNODC report released last month, warning that Southeast Asia’s fraud infrastructure will spread to Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

This report was named a key node of this global expansion. Syndicates relocated fraud operations to rural areas from Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh, such as Koh Kong, Bavet and Pursat, where new compounds were rapidly constructed after 2022.

HRC quotes a January report from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. Stablecoinexpands the ability to process illegal payments while bypassing traditional financial channels.

“The scale of these operations has made Cambodia focused on the global focus of crypto-based fraud,” said Deddy Lavid, CEO of Blockchain Analytics platform. Decryption.

Telegram recently banned channels and accounts related to Haowang Guarantees into rebranded Huione Guarantees, citing violations related to fraud and money laundering.

What is pig slaughter fraud?

Huione’s guarantees were at the heart of laundry revenue from romance scams, crypto investment scams and “pork shop” operations targeting victims around the world.

Pig slaughter fraud is where victims are emotionally groomed by fake romantics or business partners, and are ultimately convinced to pretend to be false and make a large investment.

“Unfortunately, the use of crypto as a final payment method for pig slaughter fraud is widespread due to the inherent properties of cryptocurrencies: pseudonymity, ease of cross-border transfers, and lack of centralized control.” Decryption.