The US Ministry of Finance suggested to cut off the Cambodia-based Huione Group from the US financial system with reference to the cyber crime to help the illegal market that gives to North Korean hackers and other criminal groups.

The telegram-based operation has been a “critical knot for money laundering from Cyber ​​Heists” and helped with so-called “pigs slaughtering” scams typically using false romantic bonds to exploit people for crypto assets, according to Treasury’s Financial Crimes enforcement Network (FINC), which proposed to cut it off from the financial system on Thursday.

Huione, which offers personal information and money laundering, it is said to handle as much as $ 24 billion of such transactions, according to analytical company Elliptic. The Cambodian marketplace also launched its own stableecoin earlier this year.

“Huione Group has established itself as the chosen marketplace for malicious cyber players such as DPRK and criminal syndicates who have stolen billions of dollars from everyday Americans,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement. So the fincen tried to utilize its nuclear setting strength-by the help of section 311 in the US Patriot Act-to cut off Huione from the financial system.

As late as last year, it was said that Phnom Penh-based Huione Pay received crypto in total of more than $ 150,000 from a wallet associated with North Korean hackers Lazarus, the group is accused of stealing billions of dollars in crypto in the last several years probably used to fund national projects.