US charges 2 Chinese nationals with managing cyberscam compound in Myanmar
WASHINGTON– Two Chinese nationals are accused in the United States of running a sprawling compound in Myanmar where authorities say workers were forced to participate in fraudulent cryptocurrency investment scams, according to court records released Thursday in Washington, DC.
A complaint filed in federal court accuses the suspects – Huang Xing Shan and Jiang Wen Jie – of wire fraud conspiracy. They are accused of having managed the Shunda Park industrial complex, in the village of Min Let Pan, before it was seized in November 2025 by the Myanmar armed forces.
Cyber scam centers have proliferated near the Myanmar-Thailand border. And they persisted despite promises from Myanmar’s military rulers to eliminate them, The Associated Press found.
The two suspects charged in Washington are being held by the Thai government for entering that country illegally, according to a court filing. They had moved to another fraudulent resort in Cambodia, but were arrested by Thai authorities on immigration charges earlier this year, according to the filing. It is unclear when they might be brought to the United States for prosecution.
FBI agents examined thousands of electronic devices found at Shunda’s compound and interviewed some of his former employees. Fraudsters posing as law enforcement officials or banks used fraudulent websites disguised as legitimate investment platforms to defraud their victims around the world into sending cryptocurrency, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, who announced the charges at a news conference in Washington, said the type of scam perpetrated at the Shunda compound is one of the fastest growing and most financially devastating forms of cybercrime, costing Americans billions of dollars in losses.
“It’s not abstract. It hits the retirement accounts of your neighbors, your friends and your parents,” Pirro said. “Some of these victims are so distraught that they end up committing suicide. This is economic homicide.”
Workers at the complex told the FBI they were held against their will and forced to participate in scams under threat of violence.
“The criminal syndicates behind these resorts often lure unsuspecting people to travel to neighboring Thailand by offering them high-paying technical jobs. However, many of these individuals have their identity documents confiscated and are trafficked to (Myanmar) to work at these fraudulent resorts,” the FBI affidavit states.
Online court records do not list an attorney for the defendants, Huang and Jiang.
Pirro also announced Thursday that authorities had taken down hundreds of websites linked to scams and seized a channel on the messaging app Telegram that she said was used to recruit human trafficking victims at a resort in Cambodia.
“These criminals thought they were untouchable because they were abroad,” Pirro said. “Today we prove them wrong, and we’re just getting started. »
