The complaint is contained in a report by experts at Elliptic, a British blockchain analysis company. The focus is on an online financial platform called HuiOne Guarantee in which Hun To, cousin of the current Prime Minister Hun Manet, is involved. From currency exchange to Pig Butchering scam, illicit businesses worth 11 billion dollars in which Chinese groups are involved.
Phnom Penh () – 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.” According to the report, A report by Elliptic (a British blockchain analytics firm with offices from London to Singapore), the platform’s promoters offer “technology, data and money laundering services” that have been used for illicit transactions “totaling at least $11 billion.”
According to Elliptic experts who have exposed the new scandal related to cryptocurrencies, the virtual space in which the exchanges take place is considered to be an integral part of the HuiOne Group, a Cambodian conglomerate whose executives have close ties to the Hun family, from his father Sen, who has been Prime Minister for decades, to his son Manet, who succeeded him in power. In particular, Hun To, cousin of the current Prime Minister, is the director of one of the HuiOne Group units linked to cyber fraud. According to experts, this connection is precisely what would complicate the investigations and in many cases could leave the criminals unpunished. Another HuiOne company, HuiOne International Payments, is also said to be actively involved in laundering the proceeds of fraud on a global level.
Online scams have stolen tens of billions of dollars from millions of victims around the world. The most common type is known as the “Pig Butchering scam,” which is the approach taken by scammers who “fatten” victims into fake investment programs and then steal what they have accumulated. Other types of scams use Ponzi schemes, impersonation of family members, and sexual extortion or threats.
According to a report by the US Institute of Peace, many of these scams are perpetrated by transnational groups originating in China that operate in “organized movements” in Southeast Asian countries. Among them, the phenomenon has gained particular strength in Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines and Cambodia, where groups have been able to exploit regional conflicts, corruption and the unbridled growth of “special economic zones.”
As explained on HuiOne’s website, the financial services branch is said to have 500,000 registered users. Its clients include industry giants such as Alipay, Huawei, PayGo Wallet, UnionPay and Yes Seatel. In some cases, unsuspecting people from Asia and Africa are lured with well-paid jobs in the region and then trapped in “scam compounds” run by Chinese criminals who even use electric collars to “retain” migrant workers. A practice that, as the American institute points out, is rapidly spreading throughout Asia.
Founded in 2021, HuiOne Guarantee comprises a network of thousands of instant messaging app channels on Telegram operated by different entities. While it claims to serve as a marketplace for real estate and cars, Elliptic’s complaint alleges that most of the goods and services it offers are targeted at cyber scam operators. “The largest category of merchants operating under HuiOne Guarantee are those offering the ability to move and exchange money,” the company explains. In many cases, “they explicitly offer money laundering services, including accepting payments from victims around the world, cross-border transfer, and conversion into other goods, such as cash, stablecoins, and Chinese payment apps.”
According to data shared by SlowMist in early January, merchants associated with HuiOne Guarantee reportedly conducted other cryptocurrency transactions with a wallet that received over $0.6 million from another wallet linked to the Myanmar Alliance Army. “The value of the cryptocurrencies received by HuiOne Guarantee and its merchants, and the type of goods and services offered, suggest that this is a key driver for online scam operators in Southeast Asia,” Elliptic concludes.
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