Irrawaddy-Sept 9
Junta-allied Karen warlords were among nine individuals and companies hit by fresh US sanctions targeting Myanmar’s border scam centers on Monday. The sanctions target the Karen National Army-controlled scam hub of Shwe Kokko near the Thai border in Myawaddy Township, as well as scam centers in Cambodia. The U.S Treasury Department said the regional network of scam centers had stolen billions of dollars from Americans using forced labor and violence. Chinese tycoon She Zhijiang is being sanctioned for building Shwe Kokko’s Yatai New City in partnership with Saw Chit Thu, chief of the KNA (formerly Karen Border Guard Force). According to the US Treasury, the pair turned a small village into a resort city notorious for gambling, prostitution, drug trafficking, and scam operations targeting victims worldwide, including U.S citizens. Americans had lost at least $10 billion in 2024 alone to Southeast Asia-based scamming operations, the report added.
She Zhijiang, who holds Burmese and Cambodian citizenship, was named as the largest shareholder of Yatai New City. Sanctions were also imposed on Yatai International Holdings Group Limited (Yatai IHG)—She Zhijiang’s joint venture with the KNA—and Myanmar Yatai International Holding Group Co., Ltd—for engaging in cybercrime and serious human rights abuses. In May, the U.S imposed sanctions on KNA chief Saw Chit Thu and his two sons for cybercrime and human trafficking. Saw Chit Thu was sanctioned by the UK in 2023 and the European Union in 2024, for the cybercrime and ties with the junta. Justice for Myanmar’s 2024 exposé of Saw Chit Thu and his criminal enterprises spurred international sanctions against the BGF/KNA and its businesses. Read more at:
