By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-09-09 19:58:28 | Updated at 2026-09-09 20:37:02
43 minutes ago
The U.S. government imposed sanctions on Sept. 9 against a Chinese-run online marketplace used to conduct cyber scams after the U.S. Justice Department’s Scam Center Strike Force restrained millions in laundered funds.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Xinbi Guarantee, a transnational criminal organization and Chinese-language platform. The department said the platform was used extensively by Chinese cybercriminals and operated as a “large illicit online marketplace.”
It was used to support cyber scams, money laundering, fraud, and other criminal activity targeting Americans, the U.S. government said.
Treasury officials allege that Xinbi Guarantee’s platform processed the equivalent of more than $24 billion in digital assets and fiat currency since its establishment around 2022. The department also said that North Korean hackers and several entities sanctioned by the United States used the online marketplace.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also sanctioned Anwen and SafeW Technology on Sept. 9 for supporting Xinbi Guarantee’s operations by providing digital currency and other financial services.
“Scam centers in Southeast Asia steal billions of dollars from American victims each year,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. “The Trump Administration is united in its efforts to dismantle these overseas criminal enterprises, and Treasury will continue using its tools to disrupt the networks behind this egregious fraud and protect Americans.”
The sanctions against Xinbi Guarantee, which block any property or interests in the United States or in control of U.S. persons, were announced in coordination with the Scam Center Strike Force.
The Justice Department (DOJ) said Wednesday that personnel were deployed to Madagascar to assist with the takedown of 13 Chinese-run scam compounds.
The law enforcement efforts restrained over $52 million worth of cryptocurrency in one day from Xinbi Guarantee and its vendor network that supported crime groups running scam centers across the world, the DOJ said.
A seizure warrant alleged that Xinbi Guarantee’s illegal marketplace was run on a Telegram channel that primarily operated in Chinese. Vendors allegedly posted scam services on the channel, including custom scam investment websites, money-laundering services, and recruitment of trafficking victims to work in scam compounds in Southeast Asia.
When scammers purchased services from vendors, Xinbi Guarantee held the payment until the services were completed to assure the scammers that the services would be delivered, according to the Justice Department.
Investigators allegedly found numerous instances where U.S. victims’ funds were traced to vendors that advertised money-laundering services and posted cryptocurrency wallets for payment on Xinbi Guarantee’s Telegram channel.
The seizure of the Telegram channels hosting Xinbi Guarantee’s illegal marketplace was authorized by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Sept. 7.
In addition to seizing the Telegram channels, the strike force also seized two cryptocurrency wallets that Xinbi Guarantee allegedly used to collect vendor payments. Those wallets held about $12 million worth of funds.
Law enforcement officials also sought to restrain 47 additional cryptocurrency wallets allegedly linked to money laundering on Xinbi Guarantee’s network and vendors who had worked for scammers.
“If Chinese organized crime can buy a custom website and a money laundering service the way you order takeout, then every American with a retirement account is in the blast radius,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement on Sept. 9.
“My Strike Force will continue to dismantle Chinese organized crime, those who facilitate it, and protect Main Street America.”
Pirro announced on Sept. 9 that the Scam Center Strike Force will be expanding its mission to target scam center compounds around the globe.
The strike force was launched by Pirro in November 2025 to address the threat of Chinese organized crime syndicates operating scam centers. The strike force focuses on cyber-enabled fraud, cryptocurrency investment fraud, money laundering, and human trafficking operations.
