US Treasury issues new sanctions against scam centre networks in Myanmar

Mizzima

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Wednesday on a Myanmar-based armed group and several companies and individuals linked to sprawling cyber-scam networks. US officials say they have stolen billions of dollars from Americans and subjected trafficked workers to brutal abuse.

The Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), four of its senior leaders, Thai national Chamu Sawang, and two companies – Trans Asia International Holding Group Thailand Co. Ltd. and Troth Star Co. Ltd. – were designated as playing key roles in building, financing, or securing scam compounds in eastern Myanmar’s Karen State. These scam centres have been tied to Chinese organized crime groups and have repeatedly targeted victims in the US through fraudulent online investment schemes.

“Criminal networks operating out of Burma are stealing billions of dollars from hardworking Americans,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley. He added that these same groups are involved in human trafficking and fuelling Myanmar’s civil conflict.

The action was coordinated with the FBI, US Secret Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Justice Department.

US authorities simultaneously announced the creation of a Scam Centre Strike Force to investigate and disrupt large-scale scam operations across Southeast Asia, with a focus on Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos.

The increasingly violent nature of the scam compounds was highlighted by the designations. Trafficking workers through debt bondage, beatings, and threats of forced prostitution were cited as tactics used by those involved in the scam centres.