{"id":4999,"date":"2026-03-28T08:36:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T08:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/2026\/03\/28\/uk-cracks-down-on-chinese-crypto-marketplace-for-funding-southeast-asia-scam-hubs\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T08:36:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T08:36:39","slug":"uk-cracks-down-on-chinese-crypto-marketplace-for-funding-southeast-asia-scam-hubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/2026\/03\/28\/uk-cracks-down-on-chinese-crypto-marketplace-for-funding-southeast-asia-scam-hubs\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Cracks Down on Chinese Crypto Marketplace for Funding Southeast Asia Scam Hubs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The UK government has sanctioned a network of individuals and organizations allegedly linked to scam compounds in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n

Across Southeast Asia,\u00a0scam\u00a0centers\u00a0are\u00a0using\u00a0sophisticated schemes, including romance scams, to defraud victims on an industrial scale.<\/p>\n

The latest action by the UK government, announced on March 26, targeted Xinbi, one of the largest illicit online cryptocurrency marketplaces in the region with inflows of over $19.7 billion.<\/p>\n

Based in China, Xinbi\u2019s operators have been accused of selling the data of scam victims and trading satellite internet equipment,\u00a0which is used to contact victims.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The UK is the fist country to sanction Xinbi.<\/p>\n

Xinbi notably provides services to #8 Park, a recently identified scam compound linked to the Prince Group and believed to be Cambodia’s largest scam compound, with capacity to accommodate 20,000 trafficked workers to operate online scam schemes at scale.<\/p>\n

Finally, the UK government accused Xinbi of having\u00a0facilitated\u00a0the laundering of stolen crypto assets by North Korea.<\/p>\n

New Individuals and Entities Sanctioned by the UK<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In addition to Xinbi, the newly sanctioned entities include Legend Innovation Co., the\u00a0operator\u00a0of\u00a0#8 Park, BSquare Technology, a sister company of the Prince Group-linked crypto platform Byex, and Tian Xu International Technology, a Cambodian company linked to BSquare and Byex.<\/p>\n

Several individuals are also on the sanctioned list, including Eang\u00a0Soklim,\u00a0the director of Legend Innovation Co. associates of the\u00a0Prince Group chairman Chen Zhi and Wan Kuok Koi, a former triad leader involved in scam centres in Myanmar.<\/p>\n

The UK government said it now plans to freeze \u201ca number of\u00a0London\u00a0properties\u201d because of\u00a0these new sanctions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stephen Doughty, the British Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories, said the sanctions sent a clear message, \u201cWe will not allow British people to become victims of these dreadful scams or tolerate the awful human rights abuses perpetrated in these\u00a0scam\u00a0centers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elliptic Exposed Xinbi\u2019s Crypto Scam Network<\/strong><\/h2>\n

UK crypto-analysis firm Elliptic assisted the UK government with its investigation into #8 Park and the Xinbi network.<\/p>\n

In May 2025, it published one of the first in-depth analysis of Xinbi Guarantee, a Telegram-based marketplace serving fraudsters across Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n

The crypto-analysis firm, which investigates through the traces left by crypto transactions on the blockchain, said Xinbi is \u201cthe second-largest illicit online marketplace ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February 2026, Elliptic also published research into #8 Park that provided the first public details of the compound\u2019s connection to the already-sanctioned Prince Group.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur research also identified cryptoasset\u00a0addresses used by merchants operating inside the compound. These merchants, which included a supermarket, bakery and food stalls, accepted USDT payments from the compound’s workers,\u201d the firm wrote in a statement published on March 26.<\/p>\n

Elliptic reported that just five days after publishing its investigation, intelligence indicated the Xinbi-linked compound in Southeast Asia had been ordered to evacuate by February 13.<\/p>\n

Videos circulating online further confirmed large-scale departures from the site, while on-chain data revealed a sharp drop in merchant payments starting around February 9, with transactions nearly halting entirely by February 13.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Incoming
Incoming payments to merchants within #8 Park for food, groceries, drinks. Source: Elliptic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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UK Ramps Up Fight Against Crypto Fraud<\/strong><\/h2>\n

These new UK sanctions follow the coordinated US and UK designation of 146 entities and individuals linked to the Prince Group in October 2025, and the subsequent arrest and extradition\u00a0of Prince Group chairman Chen Zhi to China in January 2026.<\/p>\n

Cambodia\u2019s government\u00a0launched\u00a0its largest ever crackdown on the\u00a0scam\u00a0economy following the 2025 UK sanctions. Local\u00a0authorities have estimated that 2500 sites have been raided,\u00a0leading to the closure of hundreds of\u00a0scam\u00a0centres and\u00a0the release of tens of thousands of\u00a0foreign nationals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Additionally, Lord Hanson, the British Fraud Minister said new initiatives, such as the recently launched UK-backed Interpol Global Fraud Taskforce and the launch of the UK\u2019s new Online Crime Centre will strengthen the UK\u2019s ability to track, trace and shut down cross-border crypto-enabled fraud at its source.<\/p>\n

The British Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, is expected to drive\u00a0international action to tackle the\u00a0misuse\u00a0of property and crypto-assets to launder dirty money and\u00a0move\u00a0it\u00a0across international borders at the UK\u2019s\u00a0Illicit Finance Summit\u00a0in June.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK government has sanctioned a network of individuals and organizations allegedly linked to scam compounds in Southeast Asia. Across Southeast Asia,\u00a0scam\u00a0centers\u00a0are\u00a0using\u00a0sophisticated schemes, including romance scams, to defraud victims on an industrial scale. The latest action by the UK government, announced on March 26, targeted Xinbi, one of the largest illicit online cryptocurrency marketplaces in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4999-91f89bb6-5505-4c0a-94a3-5e788d3797e8.jpg",300,300,false],"thumbnail":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4999-91f89bb6-5505-4c0a-94a3-5e788d3797e8-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4999-91f89bb6-5505-4c0a-94a3-5e788d3797e8.jpg",300,300,false],"medium_large":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4999-91f89bb6-5505-4c0a-94a3-5e788d3797e8.jpg",300,300,false],"large":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4999-91f89bb6-5505-4c0a-94a3-5e788d3797e8.jpg",300,300,false],"1536x1536":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4999-91f89bb6-5505-4c0a-94a3-5e788d3797e8.jpg",300,300,false],"2048x2048":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4999-91f89bb6-5505-4c0a-94a3-5e788d3797e8.jpg",300,300,false],"morenews-featured":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4999-91f89bb6-5505-4c0a-94a3-5e788d3797e8.jpg",300,300,false],"morenews-large":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4999-91f89bb6-5505-4c0a-94a3-5e788d3797e8.jpg",300,300,false],"morenews-medium":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4999-91f89bb6-5505-4c0a-94a3-5e788d3797e8.jpg",300,300,false],"crawlomatic_preview_image":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4999-91f89bb6-5505-4c0a-94a3-5e788d3797e8-146x146.jpg",146,146,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"henry","author_link":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/author\/henry\/"},"category_info":"Uncategorized<\/a>","tag_info":"Uncategorized","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}