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Upbit. (Photo courtesy of Dunamu) |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Seoul, November 1, 2025 — South Korean police have launched a criminal investigation into allegations that domestic cryptocurrency exchanges were used by a Cambodian crime syndicate for money laundering, with Upbit emerging as one of the key targets.
According to Yonhap News, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Security Investigation Division conducted a search and seizure at Upbit on October 15 to obtain transaction records related to “Huione Guarantee,” a digital asset service platform operated by Cambodia’s Huione Group.
Huione Group has been designated as a transnational criminal organization and sanctioned by the United States and the United Kingdom for allegedly laundering cryptocurrencies obtained through fraud and theft.
Upbit said it had already reported 205 user accounts to authorities on March 7, after detecting suspicious transactions tied to Huione Guarantee through its internal monitoring system. The crypto transfers between Upbit and Huione Guarantee totaled around ₩200 million (approximately USD 145,000) — about 3% of all transactions between Korean exchanges and the Cambodian platform. Most of the remaining activity reportedly took place through Bithumb, another local exchange.
Other Korean crypto exchanges also blocked withdrawals linked to Huione Guarantee in May 2025, prompting expectations that the police probe will expand to additional platforms.
Investigators suspect that the coin transfers between domestic exchanges and Huione Guarantee were used to conceal proceeds from criminal activities.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
