US Treasury imposes sanctions on Myanmar militia group over alleged cryptocurrency scam

Mars Finance News, on May 6, according to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on May 5 that it has added the Myanmar Karen National Union and its leader Saw Chit Thu, along with his two sons, to the sanctions list. The organization is accused of operating cryptocurrency scams in the form of "pig butchering" schemes, human trafficking, and cross-border smuggling. The announcement stated that these scams have caused U.S. citizens to suffer "cumulative losses of billions of dollars" without disclosing the exact amount. The organization establishes trust through social media and induces victims to invest in fake cryptocurrency projects, with Southeast Asia being a major disaster area for such scams. Blockchain analysis company TRM Labs reports that the global "pig butchering" scam involved over $4.4 billion in 2023. FBI data shows that cryptocurrency fraud losses in the United States reached $9.3 billion in 2024 (a 66% year-on-year increase), with individuals over 60 suffering the most severe losses (totaling $2.8 billion).