US Targets $10 Billion Fraud, Trafficking Rings in Southeast Asia Casino Hubs

• Treasury sanctions target $10B fraud and trafficking networks.
• Scam centers linked to casinos in Myanmar, Cambodia exposed.
• Victims coerced into online fraud through violence and captivity.

The US Treasury on Monday blacklisted nearly 20 people and companies tied to online fraud and trafficking operations in casino hubs in Myanmar and Cambodia.

The Treasury accuses nine entities based in the Shwe Kokko enclave of Myanmar and 10 in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville of orchestrating online virtual-currency investment scams that defrauded US citizens out of more than US$10 billion in 2024, a 66% increase over the prior year.

“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 Stoops to Conquer

Among those sanctioned Monday were individuals and entities connected to Shwe Kokko’s Yatai New City, including its founder, She Zhijiang. His operation has been nurtured and protected by the Karen National Army (KNA), an ethnic militia, and its leader, Saw Chit Thu.

She was arrested in Thailand in 2022 on an Interpol Red Notice and has since been fighting extradition to China.

The sanctions also focused on Cambodia, where T C Capital Co. Ltd. operates the Golden Sun Sky Casino and Hotel in Sihanoukville. The Treasury said the casino has been used to launder money and conceal online fraud. Its founder, Dong Lecheng, was sanctioned alongside several associates and affiliated companies. US officials noted Dong’s prior money-laundering conviction in China and linked him to trafficking operations.

Fight Intensifies

Monday’s sanctions suggest the US government is ramping up efforts to combat transnational financial crime. Earlier this year, the department sanctioned the KNA’s leadership, along with Cambodian businessman Ly Yong Phat, and others, for trafficking abuses and scam operations.

Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley condemned the scams as not only financially ruinous to US citizens but also as “modern slavery.”

“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.