The United States and United Kingdom have launched their most sweeping coordinated crackdown yet on global cybercrime networks, zeroing in on Southeast Asia’s booming crypto-enabled fraud industry.
Axar.az reports that announced on Oct. 14, the effort targeted two major organizations: Huione Group, a Cambodian fintech conglomerate accused of laundering billions of dollars, and the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO), led by Chinese-born businessman Chen Zhi.
U.S. prosecutors filed indictments in federal court in New York, charging Chen and associates with racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 146 individuals and entities, mirrored by the U.K. Foreign Office.
As part of the operation, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the seizure of 150,000 BTC, valued at roughly $15 billion—the largest crypto seizure in history.
Officials said the move marked a “major step toward dismantling the global infrastructure of financial crime that uses crypto as its conduit.”