Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Karen National Army (KNA), a militia group in Burma, as a transnational criminal organization, along with the group’s leader Saw Chit Thu, and his two sons, Saw Htoo Eh Moo and Saw Chit Chit, for their role in facilitating cyber scams that harm U.S. citizens, human trafficking, and cross-border smuggling. As the leader of the KNA, Saw Chit Thu has emerged as one of the central figures in Burma’s scam economy, facilitating transnational crimes in a KNA-controlled zone along the border with Thailand. Under Saw Chit Thu’s leadership, the KNA has become a key enabler of scam operations in the region, providing security at compounds and leasing land to criminal organizations while profiting handsomely at the expense of scam victims and of the otherwise innocent people forced to carry out these crimes. Saw Chit Thu was sanctioned by the United Kingdom in 2023 and the European Union in 2024 for his involvement in scam compounds and with Burma’s military regime.
Saw Chit Thu appointed his two sons, Saw Htoo Eh Moo and Saw Chit Chit, as officers in the KNA. Both have served in key roles in the KNA criminal enterprise. OFAC is designating Saw Chit Thu and his two sons, Saw Htoo Eh Moo and Saw Chit Chit, pursuant to E.O. 13581, as amended, for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Karen National Army, and pursuant to E.O. 14014 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Karen National Army. Saw Htoo Eh Moo and Saw Chit Chit are also being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being the adult children of Saw Chit Thu.
On February 10, 2021, the President, invoking the authority of, inter alia, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701–1706) (IEEPA), issued Executive Order (E.O.) 14014 of February 10, 2021, “Blocking Property With Respect to the Situation in Burma” (86 FR 9429, February 12, 2021).
In E.O. 14014, the President determined that the situation in and in relation to Burma, and in particular the February 1, 2021 coup, in which the military overthrew the democratically elected civilian government of Burma and unjustly arrested and detained government leaders, politicians, human rights defenders, journalists, and religious leaders, thereby rejecting the will of the people of Burma as expressed in elections held in November 2020 and undermining the country's democratic transition and rule of law, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States and declared a national emergency to deal with that threat.
OFAC is issuing the Burma Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 525 (the “Regulations”), to implement E.O. 14014, pursuant to authorities delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury in E.O. 14014. A copy of E.O. 14014 appears in appendix A to this part.
The Regulations are being published in abbreviated form at this time for the purpose of providing immediate guidance to the public. OFAC intends to supplement this part 525 with a more comprehensive set of regulations, which may include additional interpretive and definitional guidance, general licenses, and other regulatory provisions. The appendix to the Regulations will be removed when OFAC supplements this part with a more comprehensive set of regulations.
