Britain has expanded its crackdown on Southeast Asia’s scam economy by sanctioning Xinbi, a Chinese-language crypto marketplace that officials say helped service scam centers, along with Legend Innovation Co., the operator of Cambodia’s “#8 Park” compound, and six individuals allegedly tied to the network.

The UK Foreign Office said Xinbi provided cryptocurrency-based services to scam centers, including the sale of stolen personal data and satellite internet equipment used to contact victims, while Legend Innovation operated what Britain identified as Cambodia’s largest scam compound, with capacity for 20,000 trafficked workers. The measures also include asset freezes covering a £100 million office block in the City of London, two multi-million-pound mansions and a helicopter.

Xinbi has emerged as one of the most significant Chinese-language black markets underpinning the global scam ecosystem, selling services tied to stolen data, money laundering, and the infrastructure needed to run online fraud operations, according to a report by WIRED. Citing blockchain analytics firms, the news outlet reported that Xinbi processed between roughly $19.7 billion and $19.9 billion in cryptocurrency transactions over the past several years, underscoring the scale of illicit finance linked to the platform. 

The UK’s latest sanctions are aimed not only at the operators of Cambodian scam compounds but also at the financial plumbing that enables them. The publication said Xinbi rebuilt quickly after Telegram removed channels linked to the marketplace last year and has since diversified its infrastructure, including duplicating parts of its crypto payments operations on another messaging app and launching its own payment app, XinbiPay. 

British officials said the sanctions are designed to isolate Xinbi from the legitimate crypto ecosystem and further immobilize the scam network and its financial enablers. The action builds on earlier UK-U.S. sanctions against Cambodia’s Prince Group and chairman Chen Zhi, which British authorities said helped trigger investigations, arrests and seizures worth more than £1 billion.

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