Particle.news
Download on the App Store
10 ARTICLES
·
yesterday

U.S. Sanctions 19 Targets Tied to Myanmar and Cambodia Cyber-Scam Hubs

The designations seek to cut off funds to networks that run forced-labor fraud compounds and defrauded Americans of at least $10 billion last year.

Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar, are stuck in limbo at a compound inside the KK Park, a fraud factory, and a human trafficking hub on the border with Thailand-Myanmar after a multinational crackdown on the compounds run by criminal gangs, operated by the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) in Myawaddy, Myanmar, February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
Image
Washington, DC, USA - June 24, 2022: Exterior view of the Department of the Treasury Building (USDT) in Washington, DC.
Image

Overview

  • OFAC named nine operators linked to the Shwe Kokko complex in Myanmar—operating under protection of the sanctioned Karen National Army—and ten tied to scam compounds in Cambodia.
  • All property and interests of the designated parties are blocked, and restrictions extend under OFAC’s 50 Percent Rule to entities they own.
  • Officials say criminal groups recruit workers under false pretenses and coerce them with debt bondage, violence and threats of forced prostitution to run online fraud schemes.
  • Named figures include Tin Win, Saw Min Min Oo and She Zhijiang and Yatai-linked firms in Myanmar, and Dong Lecheng, Xu Aimin, Chen Al Len and Su Liangsheng in Cambodia.
  • The action heightens compliance pressure on banks, payment firms and crypto platforms used to move proceeds from virtual-currency investment and romance scams, even as operators frequently rebrand to evade controls.