UK
Nearly 20 individuals and businesses connected to internet fraud and trafficking activities in casino centers in Myanmar and Cambodia were placed on a blacklist by the US Treasury on Monday.
Nine organizations based in Myanmar's Shwe Kokko enclave and ten in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, are accused by the Treasury of masterminding online virtual currency investment scams that cheated US people out of over US$10 billion in 2024, a 66% rise from the previous year.
The Treasury claims that these networks are also engaged in human trafficking. People are frequently lured into scam work by forced prostitution, debt bondage, or assault after being offered respectable jobs. Some victims are imprisoned in compounds until their relatives pay ransoms, or they are assaulted for failing to meet quotas.
“Many of these centers were built as casinos by Chinese criminal actors but became hubs for virtual currency investment scams when that activity proved to be more profitable,” the Treasury said.
She Bends Over to Win
People and organizations associated with Shwe Kokko's Yatai New City, including its founder She Zhijiang, were among those sanctioned on Monday. The Karen National Army (KNA), an ethnic militia led by Saw Chit Thu, has fostered and safeguarded his activities.
The Treasury claims that over the course of eight years, She's development expanded from a little riverside community to a vast complex full of casinos, fraud centers, trafficking operations, and other illicit enterprises.
She has been resisting extradition to China since being detained in Thailand in 2022 on an Interpol Red Notice.
T C Capital Co. Ltd., the operator of the Golden Sun Sky Casino and Hotel in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, was also the target of the penalties. According to the Treasury, the casino has been used to hide internet fraud and launder money. Dong Lecheng, the company's founder, was sanctioned along with a number of associates and related businesses. US officials connected Dong to trafficking activities and cited his previous money-laundering conviction in China.
Fight Gets More Intense
The penalties imposed on Monday imply that the US government is stepping up its efforts to stop international financial wrongdoing. The KNA's leadership, Cambodian millionaire Ly Yong Phat, and others were sanctioned by the government earlier this year for their involvement in scams and trafficking violations.
Under the Undersecretary for Financial Intelligence and Terrorism John K. Hurley denounced the schemes as "modern slavery" in addition to being financially devastating to US residents.
“Treasury will deploy the full weight of its tools to combat organized financial crime and protect Americans from the extensive damage these scams can cause,” he said in a statement.
