The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Xinbi Guarantee on September 9 as a significant transnational criminal organisation, while also sanctioning Singapore-based SafeW Technology Co Ltd and Cambodia-based Anwen Technology Co Ltd for providing technological and financial support to the platform.
The action was coordinated with the Justice Department’s Scam Center Strike Force, which seized infrastructure and digital-asset wallets linked to Xinbi. Federal authorities said they restrained about $52 million in cryptocurrency associated with scam money laundering in a single day, taking the strike force’s total restrained assets to about $938 million.
Treasury said Xinbi, which emerged around 2022, had processed more than $24 billion in digital assets and fiat currency through its marketplace and associated platforms, with activity concentrated mainly in Southeast Asia. The platform operated as an intermediary between scam operators and merchants offering services ranging from laundering stolen proceeds to building websites and supplying technology used in fraud schemes.
US authorities described Xinbi as an escrow-based marketplace that helped criminal customers transact with vendors. Under that model, funds could be held until a purchased service was completed, giving scam operators a mechanism for obtaining illicit products and services from sellers advertising on the platform.
A seizure warrant unsealed by the Justice Department alleged that Xinbi’s Telegram channels allowed vendors to advertise custom investment-scam websites, money-laundering services and recruitment of trafficking victims for scam compounds. Investigators also alleged that funds stolen from victims in the United States were traced to vendors promoting laundering services through the marketplace.
Treasury said Xinbi had also been used by North Korean hackers and by entities already under US sanctions, including Jin Bei Group and companies associated with the Prince Group transnational criminal organisation. Blockchain analysis cited by investigators has linked parts of Xinbi’s vendor network to laundering flows involving major cryptocurrency thefts, although the sanctions action is based on the broader marketplace and its support for cyber-enabled fraud.
Scott Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary, said scam centres in Southeast Asia steal billions of dollars from American victims each year. He said the administration would continue using financial and law-enforcement tools to disrupt networks behind overseas fraud operations.
OFAC said Xinbi began shifting merchant and money-laundering activity around June 2025 to SafeW, an end-to-end encrypted messaging application developed by SafeW Technology, as law-enforcement scrutiny increased. Xinbi encouraged buyers and sellers to use the application for coordination.
Around the same period, Xinbi launched XinbiPay, also called NewPay wallet, a cryptocurrency payment and digital-wallet application developed by Anwen Technology. OFAC said the two companies materially assisted or provided services supporting Xinbi’s operations, forming the basis for their designations.
The sanctions block property and interests in property belonging to the designated entities that are in the United States or controlled by US persons. Entities owned 50 per cent or more, directly or indirectly, by blocked persons are also subject to the restrictions.
Transactions by US persons involving the designated parties are generally prohibited unless authorised or exempt. Financial institutions and other businesses may also face sanctions exposure if they engage in prohibited dealings with the network, while violations can result in civil or criminal penalties.
The US action follows sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom on Xinbi Company Limited in March. British authorities said Xinbi had enabled and profited from scam centres in Southeast Asia and linked its services to serious human-rights abuses, including forced labour and degrading treatment within scam compounds.
US authorities also moved against Xinbi’s communications infrastructure. A federal court authorised seizure of Telegram channels hosting the marketplace on September 7, and investigators subsequently targeted cryptocurrency wallets and associated assets used by the network.
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