US Treasury Drops the Hammer on Burmese Militia's Crypto Scams

Karen National Army Caught in the Crosshairs

The US Treasury just slammed the Karen National Army, a Burmese militia, with sanctions for running massive crypto scams and other shady dealings. These guys have been playing dirty, and now they're paying the price.

A Web of Digital Deceit

On May 5, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control dropped the bombshell in a press release. The KNA's been pulling the strings on a twisted network of high-tech fraud, including those nasty crypto "pig butchering" scams that leave victims gutted.

The Heartbreaking Scam That's Bleeding Wallets Dry

Here's how it goes down: Scammers hook their prey on dating apps and social media, spinning a web of sweet talk and false promises. Once they've got you hooked, they convince you to pour your cash into fake crypto projects. It's a slow burn, with victims dropping bigger and bigger bucks until—poof!—the scammers vanish, taking your life savings with them.

The Dirty Money Trail Leads to Cambodia

The Treasury's intel shows that the cash from these South East Asian crypto cons gets washed through the Huione Group in Cambodia. This outfit's been slapped with the "primary money laundering concern" label under the USA PATRIOT Act, and for good reason.

Huione: The Laundromat for the World's Dirtiest Money

Huione's not just any money launderer—they've been caught cleaning up after North Korea's Lazarus Group, moving over $4 billion in dirty cash from August 2021 to January 2025. They've got their fingers in all sorts of pies, from Huione Pay to Huione Crypto, and even a shady Telegram black market now called Haowang Guarantee. And don't get me started on their USDH stablecoin—it's designed to dodge the cops by being impossible to freeze.