DOJ seizes Huione cloud used in crypto laundering

The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that it seized a cloud computing account used by subsidiaries of Cambodia’s Huione Group. Prosecutors say the account hosted backend systems that helped launder billions in proceeds from cryptocurrency investment fraud and scam operations.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Criminal Division described the account as a ‘technological backbone’ that allowed ‘billions in fraud proceeds to be transferred, moved, and concealed,’ much of it stolen through Southeast Asian scam centers.

Court filings state the account supported Huione Guarantee, also known as Haowang Guarantee, a Telegram-based marketplace where vendors traded stolen payment card and identity data, malware proceeds and money-laundering services linked to romance and investment scams. The service provided escrow functions that facilitated cryptocurrency transactions before funds were cashed out.

The action is part of Operation Riptide, an FBI campaign targeting the infrastructure behind online fraud. The investigation was led by the FBI’s San Francisco field office and IRS Criminal Investigation, with technical help from blockchain analytics firms Chainalysis and Elliptic and Google’s cybercrime team. The Justice Department did not identify the cloud provider in its announcement.

The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network designated Huione a ‘primary money laundering concern’ in October, cutting the group off from the U.S. financial system. On Tuesday, FinCEN applied that designation to H-Pay Service PLC, which regulators describe as a successor entity used to evade the restrictions.

Blockchain analysts have described Huione Guarantee as among the largest illicit online marketplaces. Telegram banned its channels in May 2025; Huione and affiliated operators then moved services to other platforms and introduced a stablecoin called USDH to support transactions and cash-outs.

Crypto-related fraud rose in 2025. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported U.S. victims lost $11.366 billion to crypto-related schemes last year, and total reported cybercrime losses exceeded $20 billion.

Investigators indicated the seizure will disrupt Huione subsidiaries’ ability to offer laundering and escrow services while the broader probe continues and regulators work to prevent sanctioned entities from reappearing under new names.