HRC Report Reveals Cambodia Harboring $19 Billion Annual Crypto Fraud Network, with Allegations Involving Political Elites.
A new report from Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC) has exposed Cambodia's central role in the global cryptocurrency fraud ecosystem, with an estimated scale of $19 billion annually – equivalent to about 60% of the country's GDP. Notably, the report raises questions about the involvement of high-ranking Cambodian political leaders in sponsoring and benefiting from transnational criminal activities.
According to the report dated May 16, HRC – an organization specializing in anti-human trafficking research – points out that fraud networks are operated on high-tech platforms with tight integration, with Huione Group playing a key technical infrastructure role. The organization suggests that many high-ranking officials from the ruling Cambodian People's Party have directly or indirectly facilitated fraud activities involving forced labor and hard-to-trace cryptocurrency flows.
Jacob Sims, the report's author and researcher at Harvard University's Asia Center, warns: "Cambodia is likely to become a global epicenter of a new generation of financial crime using cryptocurrency as its primary medium by 2025."
The report specifically names Hun To – Prime Minister Hun Manet's cousin – as a board member of Huione Group, while Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sar Sokha is reportedly a co-investor in a related consortium.
Huione Guarantee – a subsidiary of Huione Group – is identified as an escrow platform primarily operating on Telegram, which has processed over $4 billion since 2021, according to data from the US Department of Treasury. It is also a key link in global money laundering campaigns, including romance scams, cryptocurrency investment fraud, and particularly "pig butchering scams" – a form of emotional manipulation to lure victims into investing in fraudulent projects.
According to HRC, these activities are no longer limited to Phnom Penh or Sihanoukville but have spread to provinces like Koh Kong, Bavet, and Pursat – where new complexes have rapidly emerged since 2022. A January report from blockchain analysis company Elliptic also revealed that Huione has issued its own stablecoin to optimize transaction processing beyond traditional financial oversight.
Deddy Lavid – CEO of blockchain analysis platform Cyvers – notes: "The scale and complexity of this ecosystem have transformed Cambodia into a convergence point for global cryptocurrency fraud." Recently, Telegram has closed multiple channels related to Haowang Guarantee – the new brand of Huione Guarantee – due to money laundering and fraud violations.
As UN reports and independent analysis organizations continue to highlight the spread of this model to regions like the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, the question remains: Is Cambodia truly unable to control or deliberately turning a blind eye to an underground empire developing within its territory?
