WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The United States has imposed Sanctions on a Myanmar warlord and militia over their links to cyber scam operations.
The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the Karen National Army as a transnational criminal organization, along with the group's leader Saw Chit Thu and his two sons, Saw Htoo Eh Moo and Saw Chit Chit, for their role in facilitating cyber scams that harm U.S. citizens, human trafficking, and cross-border smuggling.
The KNA-controlled region, located on the Thai-Myanmar border, is home to multiple cyber scam syndicates, and the KNA has benefitted from its connection to Myanmar's military in its criminal operations; American victims of cyber scams like the ones emanating from Myanmar have collectively lost billions of dollars over the last three years, the Treasury said in a press release.
'Cyber scam operations, such as those run by the KNA, generate billions in revenue for criminal kingpins and their associates, while depriving victims of their hard-earned savings and sense of security,' said Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender. 'Treasury is committed to using all available tools to disrupt these networks and hold accountable those who seek to profit from these criminal schemes.'
A significant portion of cyber scam operations targeting Americans and others around the globe emanate from Southeast Asia, according to the Department of the Treasury.
Estimates indicate Americans are suffering increasing financial losses as a result of these sophisticated cyber scams originating from Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries, amounting to more than $2 billion in 2022 and $3.5 billion in 2023.
The KNA is headquartered in Shwe Kokko, Myawaddy Township in Myanmar's southeast Karen State along the border with Thailand. The KNA has leveraged its former role as a Border Guard Force with the military to facilitate a transborder criminal empire; the majority of cyber scam syndicates in Karen State operate in the KNA-controlled border region.
As the leader of the KNA, Saw Chit Thu has emerged as one of the central figures in Myanmar's scam economy, facilitating transnational crimes in a KNA-controlled zone along the border with Thailand.
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