OFAC Designates Group, People With Ties to Myanmar Cyber-Scam Compounds
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week designated the Myanmar militia group Karen National Army as a transnational criminal organization for its role in supporting multiple cyber-scam syndicates targeting U.S. citizens. OFAC also sanctioned the group’s leader, Saw Chit Thu, and his two sons, Saw Htoo Eh Moo and Saw Chit Chit.
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The Karen National Army, headquartered along Myanmar's border with Thailand, changed its name last year from the Karen Border Guard Force to distance itself from Myanmar's military regime, which has been subject to a host of international sanctions since overthrowing the country's government in 2021. But OFAC said the organization has "continued its cooperation" with the country's military, including as recently as September.
The Karen National Army profits from leasing land to other organized crime groups, OFAC said. It supports groups involved in human trafficking and smuggling, and it sells "utilities used to provide energy to scam operations," the agency said. It also provides security to the scam compounds.
Michael Faulkender, the Treasury Department's deputy secretary, said cyber-scam networks, including those run by the Karen National Army, "generate billions in revenue for criminal kingpins and their associates, while depriving victims of their hard-earned savings and sense of security." He said the agency is "committed to using all available tools to disrupt these networks and hold accountable those who seek to profit from these criminal schemes.”
The EU, the U.K. and Canada also have sanctioned people associated with scam compounds in Myanmar, including leaders of the Karen National Army (see 2410290014).