# Seoul Police Refer 23 in Crypto Laundering Crackdown Linked to $11M Cambodian Phishing Ring

> South Korean police have exposed a laundering network that funneled scam proceeds through the USDT stablecoin, moving roughly $11.1 million (16.8 billion won) between February 2024 and April 2025. The alleged ringleader is still at large and now faces an Interpol Red Notice.

**Type:** article · **Category:** Business · **Published:** 2026-06-16 · **Source:** TrendKia
**Canonical:** https://trendkia.com/en/business/siyola-pulisa-ne-knbodiya-ke-phishinga-giroha-se-juri-kripto-mani-londringa-men--1258 · **Language:** English
**Tags:** Crypto Money Laundering, South Korea Police, USDT Stablecoin, Cambodia Scam Compounds, Interpol Red Notice, Chainalysis, Prince Group, Voice Phishing

Police in South Korea have peeled back the layers of a sprawling money-laundering operation that turned the earnings of a Cambodia-based phishing ring into cryptocurrency and washed them clean. Even after years of enforcement, investigators warn, the web of scam compounds spread across Southeast Asia remains a stubborn and persistent concern.

## 23 Charged, Two Detained, One on the Run
The crime investigation division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said it had referred 23 suspects for prosecution on charges that include violations of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act and the Specific Financial Information Act. Two of them, identified only as A and B, have been taken into custody.

The same operation swept up 33 more suspects accused of illegally trading $4.1 million (6.3 billion won) worth of cryptocurrency. The man described as the gang's alleged mastermind, known only as C, is still on the run and is now the target of an Interpol Red Notice. Through pre-indictment confiscation, investigators have also frozen around $431,000 (650 million won) in proceeds.

## How the Money Was Moved Through USDT
According to police, the group acted on C's instructions to shuffle roughly $11.1 million (16.8 billion won) between February 2024 and April 2025. The method was simple but layered: buy the USDT stablecoin, bounce it back and forth between domestic and overseas exchanges, then cash it out into foreign currency or won in exchange for a fee.

Examining more than 11,300 connected accounts, investigators uncovered 265 instances of phishing harm, covering both voice phishing and investment fraud, with a combined value of $17 million (25.7 billion won).

Police urged ordinary users to be cautious, warning that "acting as an agent for another person's virtual asset trading or exchanging virtual assets for Korean Won can also be subject to punishment."

## An Expert's Warning: Flexible and Hard to Kill
Xue Yin Peh, head of investigative strategy and collections for APAC at Chainalysis, told TrendKia that mounting international scrutiny has delivered concrete results against the persistent problem of scam compounds and the illicit networks built around them.

She pointed to a string of record-breaking actions over the past year, including the recovery of 61,000 in Bitcoin by UK authorities and a $15 billion forfeiture tied to the Prince Group. Those cases, she said, mark "a meaningful shift toward dismantling the global financial infrastructure that supports crypto fraud."

Yet Peh cautioned that these cross-border criminal networks "have demonstrated significant flexibility and resilience." As pressure builds, they relocate within and beyond Southeast Asia and rewire their business models on the fly.

They depend, she explained, on a broader illicit ecosystem of laundering chains, infrastructure, and trafficked labor that she called "remarkably resilient." Whenever enforcement creates a gap, new providers are "quickly filling gaps left by enforcement takedowns."

## The Tightening Net Around Stablecoins
Stablecoins like USDT remain the favored channel for illicit flows, Peh noted, because criminals reach for them "for largely the same reasons legitimate users do": liquidity, portability, and relative price stability.

At the same time, she observed, on-chain transactions stay "transparent and traceable," and issuers can freeze funds the moment illicit use comes to light. Cases like this one, Peh said, "certainly can, and already have" strengthened the case for tighter global oversight of stablecoins. She argued that stablecoin issuers should sit on the "fraud-prevention front line," and that clearer legal frameworks are needed so issuers, exchanges, banks, and authorities can coordinate when victims' money is on the line.

## A Global Push Against the Compounds
Last November, Interpol labeled scam-compound networks a global transnational threat, and that same month U.S. agencies stood up a multi-agency Scam Center Strike Force to follow the money. Since then, the Strike Force has frozen, seized, and forfeited more than $580 million in crypto linked to networks operating out of Burma, Cambodia, and Laos.

Around the same period, prosecutors in Taiwan charged 62 people over ties to the network of Cambodian tycoon Chen Zhi, chairman of the Prince Group. Chen was extradited to China earlier this year amid allegations linking his empire to cyber scam networks.

In April, Cambodia pushed through its toughest anti-scam law yet by royal decree, threatening compound bosses with up to life in prison. Analysts, however, warned that the measure may simply shove the trade across borders rather than stamp it out.

## What this means for you
- **For investors:** Buying or selling virtual assets in someone else's name, or converting crypto to cash for others, can itself be punishable, so avoid acting as a middleman in unknown transactions.
- **For everyday users:** Stay wary of voice-phishing calls and "guaranteed return" investment schemes, since money stolen this way was being routed abroad through stablecoins like USDT.

## Questions & Answers

### 1. How many people have been targeted in this case?
Police referred 23 suspects for prosecution, two of whom (A and B) are in custody, while the same operation swept up 33 additional suspects.

### 2. Who is the alleged ringleader and what happened to them?
The mastermind is identified only as C, remains at large, and is now the subject of an Interpol Red Notice.

### 3. How much money did the ring move in total?
Police say roughly $11.1 million (16.8 billion won) was cycled through USDT between February 2024 and April 2025, while phishing harm linked to the case was valued at $17 million (25.7 billion won).

### 4. Why do criminals prefer stablecoins like USDT?
According to expert Xue Yin Peh, criminals use them for largely the same reasons legitimate users do: liquidity, portability, and relative price stability.

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