Justice Department seizes Huione Group infrastructure in cryptocurrency laundering crackdown

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Justice Dept seizes Huione crypto assets

Highlights

Justice Department seizes a cloud computing account linked to Huione Group, disrupting crypto laundering infrastructure used to move illicit proceeds undetected.
Treasury Department's FinCEN designates Huione Group as a primary money laundering concern, cutting it off from the U.S. financial system and proposing expanded regulatory definitions.
Operation Riptide addresses surging cyber-enabled fraud, with Americans losing over $7.2 billion to crypto investment fraud in 2025 and $20 billion to total cybercrime in 2024, up 26% year-over-year.

Seizure targets infrastructure tied to laundering network

As reported by the U.S. Department of Justice, the seized asset is a cloud computing account that hosts backend infrastructure used by subsidiaries of the Huione Group. Prosecutors allege the account helps support services that enable individuals and organizations to transfer proceeds from cryptocurrency investment frauds, cyber scams and other crimes across blockchain networks, then convert those proceeds into the legitimate banking sector without detection.

The Justice Department says the account is linked to Huione Guarantee, also known as Haowang Guarantee. According to court documents, that operation allegedly runs Telegram channels advertising illicit goods and services, including stolen credit card and identity information, malware theft proceeds, access to individuals for human trafficking schemes, and assistance laundering funds from romance and investment scams.

Officials say Huione Guarantee also provides escrow services for criminal transactions on its platforms, including for money launderers handling cryptocurrency. Investigators have continuously traced cyber-enabled fraud proceeds to cryptocurrency addresses attributed to the Huione Group, including Huione Guarantee, where the funds are then allegedly laundered further.

Regulatory pressure expands as crypto fraud losses mount

Federal authorities are pairing seizures with broader financial restrictions on the group. Last October, the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, FinCEN, issued a final rule severing Huione Group from the U.S. financial system after designating it a primary money laundering concern under Section 311 of the USA Patriot Act.

FinCEN says the group plays a significant role in laundering proceeds from cryptocurrency investment fraud, cyber heists conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and other cyber scams. On the same day as the seizure announcement, FinCEN issues a notice of proposed rulemaking to broaden the rule's definition of Huione Group to include H-Pay Service PLC, among other changes.

The enforcement step forms part of Operation Riptide, an ongoing FBI campaign targeting the actors, infrastructure and financial networks behind cybercrime and fraud against Americans. The Justice Department says complainants report more than $7.2 billion in losses to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025 from cryptocurrency investment fraud alone, while Americans report more than $20 billion in total cybercrime losses last year, up 26% from a year earlier.

In our earlier coverage of Treasury’s expanded sanctions, we outlined a new push to disrupt Southeast Asia-based scam networks and the money-laundering channels connected to Huione Group. The update highlighted OFAC designations tied to the Prince Group TCO and FinCEN’s proposal to widen the Huione restrictions to include H-Pay Service PLC and any successor entities, citing mounting U.S. victim losses from crypto investment fraud and related cyber scams.

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