U.S. Sanctions Myanmar Warlord, KNA for $5.5B in Cyber Scams

The United States has taken a significant step in its efforts to combat transnational cybercrime by imposing sanctions on a prominent Myanmar warlord and the militia group he leads. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against Saw Chit Thu, the leader of the Karen National Army (KNA), along with his two sons, Saw Htoo Eh Moo and Saw Chit Chit, and the KNA itself. These sanctions are in response to their involvement in major cyber scams, including cryptocurrency-related fraud, that have caused substantial harm to U.S. citizens.

The OFAC sanctions also target the KNA for its role in human trafficking and cross-border smuggling. The Treasury Department has designated these individuals and the militia group for their participation in transnational crimes, which include cryptocurrency-related fraud schemes. According to the Treasury Department, U.S. victims lost over $2 billion in 2022 and more than $3.5 billion in 2023 due to these scams.

On May 1, 2025, the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network identified Cambodian financial institution Huione Group as a key player in money laundering in the Southeast Asia region. U.S. authorities have highlighted that most of the cyber scams targeting Americans originate from this region. Huione Group serves as a critical money laundering conduit for criminal organizations, including the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and is now in the U.S. crosshairs.

One of the main scams perpetrated by these groups involves convertible virtual currency investment scams and romance schemes, commonly known as "pig butchering." Scammers present victims with the illusion of a wealthy, glamorous lifestyle and induce them to invest in bogus cryptocurrency and trading platforms controlled by the scammers. Victims are shown fake returns on their investments and are duped into investing greater sums until the scammers disappear with their money.

These laundering and "pig butchering" scams have generated billions of dollars in revenue for the criminal entities involved. Saw Chit Thu, the leader of the KNA, is a key figure in Myanmar’s scam economy. His ties to the country’s military junta have enabled his criminal operations from a KNA-controlled zone along the Myanmar-Thailand border. The United Kingdom and the European Union had previously sanctioned Saw Chit Thu in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

The KNA, headquartered in Shwe Kokko, Myawaddy Township in the southeast Karen State, has leveraged its former role as a Border Guard Force (BGF) with Myanmar’s military to facilitate a transborder criminal empire. The majority of cyber scam syndicates in Karen State operate in the KNA-controlled border region. Despite changing its name in March 2024 to distance itself from Myanmar’s military regime, the KNA has continued its cooperation with the Burmese military as recently as September 2024.

The KNA profits from cyber scam schemes on an industrial scale by leasing land it controls to other organized crime groups and providing support for human trafficking, smuggling, and the sale of utilities used to provide energy to scam operations. The KNA also provides security at scam compounds in Karen State. Survivors from KK Park, an infamous scam site, have reported that the uniforms of soldiers guarding the compound bore the insignia of the KNA.

The sanctions imposed by OFAC are pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13581, as amended by E.O. 13863, which targets transnational criminal organizations and their supporters, as well as E.O. 14014, which targets persons who threaten the peace, security, and stability of Myanmar. As a result of these actions, all property and interests in property of the blocked persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. Any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons.