Tether Freezes $28M in USDT Tied to Cambodian Fraud

Tether has reportedly frozen a Tron (TRX) wallet containing over $28 million in USDT tokens, suspected to be the proceeds of criminal activities, including money laundering and fraud.

On July 13, the USDT/USDC Ban List, an account dedicated to the real-time observation of Tron and Ethereum (ETH) stablecoins, reported that an address identified as TNVaKW had been blacklisted by Tether, holding $28.25 million in USDT. The wallet is allegedly linked to the Cambodian company Huione Group. Blockchain security firm Bitrace disclosed in a July 14 post on X that the frozen wallet, activated on July 9, is associated with Huione Group’s Guarantee business. Bitrace’s analysis further revealed that Huione attempted to circumvent the freeze by activating a new address, TQuFSv, and transferring $114,800 in USDC from the blacklisted TNVaKW wallet.

Despite Tether’s actions, Huione’s other business addresses, including its old business address TL8TBp, remain operational, according to Bitrace.

Huione Guarantee’s Crypto Scam Links

On July 10, Elliptic, another prominent crypto-tracing firm, reported Huione Guarantee’s involvement in fraudulent activities, particularly pig-butchering scams. According to Elliptic, the online marketplace has become a major hub for scam operations in Southeast Asia, linked to criminal transactions totaling at least $11 billion.

Elliptic stated that the Cambodia-based company functions as a deposit and escrow service for peer-to-peer transactions on Telegram, primarily utilizing Tether’s USDT stablecoin. This has apparently made it a preferred platform for scammers and money launderers. Furthermore, the blockchain analysis firm alleged that Huione Guarantee is connected to Cambodia’s ruling family, including Prime Minister Hun Manet.

In response to these revelations, law enforcement and blockchain analysts have intensified efforts to disrupt Huione’s operations by tracking crypto transactions and identifying wallets linked to the platform.

The Tether freeze underscores the ongoing efforts to combat crypto-related fraud and the complex web of financial crimes facilitated by seemingly legitimate crypto platforms.

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