The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sweeping sanctions on an extensive web of scam operations across Southeast Asia, citing their role in defrauding Americans out of billions while enslaving thousands of workers. The measures, announced on September 8, 2025, affect nine individuals and entities linked to Burma and ten others in Cambodia.

Washington Targets Expansive Cyber Scam Networks

“These sanctions protect Americans from the pervasive threat of online scam operations by disrupting the ability of criminal networks to perpetuate industrial-scale fraud, forced labor, physical and sexual abuse, and theft of Americans’ hard-earned savings,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Treasury officials underscored the scale of the damage. “Southeast Asia’s cyber scam industry not only threatens the well-being and financial security of Americans, but also subjects thousands of people to modern slavery,” stated John K. Hurley, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. He noted that in 2024 alone, unsuspecting U.S. citizens lost more than $10 billion to such schemes, marking a 66 percent increase from the prior year.

As reported by Thai Enquirer, a key focus of the sanctions is Shwe Kokko, a notorious hub in Burma’s Karen State, where the OFAC-designated Karen National Army (KNA) protects and profits from scam compounds. Yatai New City, developed by Chinese businessman She Zhijiang and KNA leader Saw Chit Thu, transformed a small village into a sprawling complex associated with gambling, drug trafficking, prostitution, and online scams.

Victims lured with false job promises reported being detained, beaten for failing to meet quotas, and forced into cyber scams or prostitution. Some were held until ransom payments were extracted from their families.

OFAC sanctioned senior KNA figures, including Tin Win and Saw Min Min Oo, who oversee property hosting the scam centers and companies tied to illicit utilities and money flows. She Zhijian, himself, currently detained in Thailand after an Interpol Red Notice, was also designated alongside his corporate vehicles Yatai International Holdings and Myanmar Yatai International Holding Group.

Cambodia has also emerged as a critical hub for these operations, particularly in Sihanoukville, Bavet, and Pursat. OFAC highlighted that many scam compounds there began as casinos built by Chinese criminal actors before being converted into fraud factories.

Among those blacklisted is T C Capital Co. Ltd., owner of the Golden Sun Sky Casino and Hotel in Sihanoukville, where scam victims have been forced to conduct virtual currency fraud. Its founder, Dong Lecheng, was previously convicted of money laundering in China.

K B Hotel Co. Ltd. was also sanctioned. Co-founded by Xu Aimin, a naturalized Cambodian citizen who once ran a billion-dollar illegal gambling ring in China, the complex has been linked to forced labor. Xu had earlier been sentenced to 10 years in prison and was wanted in Hong Kong for laundering $46 million.

Other sanctioned Cambodian entities include Heng He Bavet Property Co. Ltd. and M D S Heng He Investment Co. Ltd., both connected to tycoon Try Pheap. OFAC further designated HH Bank Cambodia, linked to directors Chen Al Len and Su Liangsheng, for facilitating scam-related financial flows.

Human Rights and Financial Crime Intertwined

The Treasury’s actions also draw on human rights authorities under the Global Magnitsky Act, targeting individuals responsible for severe abuse in scam centers. Reports from escaped victims describe conditions of captivity, physical punishment, and coerced sexual exploitation, underscoring the intersection between cybercrime and human trafficking.

The U.S. government had already moved earlier in 2025 against key facilitators, including the Huione Group, a Cambodian financial institution identified as a major laundering conduit for scam proceeds, and Funnull, a provider of IP addresses to scam networks.

OFAC emphasized that sanctions not only block all U.S.-linked assets of designated persons but also prohibit American individuals and companies from engaging in any transactions with them. “Under President Trump and Secretary Bessent’s leadership, 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,” Hurley said in official U.S. Treasury’s press release.

The sanctions illustrate the global reach of these criminal enterprises. While Americans have suffered massive financial losses, the system also exploits trafficked workers forced into scam centers under threat of violence. Compounds in both Burma and Cambodia, often operating under the cover of casinos or real estate developments, have become central nodes in what Treasury calls a transnational criminal industry.

By freezing assets, cutting off financial access, and exposing the networks, Washington hopes to disrupt operations while pressuring governments in the region to act more forcefully. As Hurley put it, Treasury aims “to bring about a positive change in behavior” while safeguarding the American financial system and curbing the abuses underpinning the scams.