A recent collaborative investigation has put Myanmar on the centre of a huge cryptocurrency racket extending to the tune of over $1 billion. Two American agencies – one of whom is the International Justice Mission – came together to carry out the investigation. This, in turn, gave away to the confirmation of KK Park as a hideout where this racketeering business is thriving, on a two-fold basis.
KK Park is located to the east of Myanmar and is a locale that borders the nation of Thailand.
Pig-Butchering Racket
The investigations showed that tokens of the well-known crypto entities, Tether, were used to pay to a business corporation operating in the KK Park area.
The business corporation’s business model itself is notorious in that its employees have all been trafficked to work at the location. As such, these people have no other option but to work in these places like slaves even as their families back home – mainly from Thailand – run pillar to post, trying to get them a safe passage back home.
Such business models are called, “Pig-Butchering” rackets or “Romance” scams because these trafficked employees work round-the-clock to trap gullible individuals on social media platforms – including dating sites – to lure them into developing a personal association with them. Once the individuals get entrapped, these forced scam artists make them give their money to the company through crypto channels which, in this instance, was Tether.
As per the results of the investigation, the racketeering company has earned around $24 million through its pig-butchering scheme. The Mission’s fellow investigating partner noted that the rest of the sum could’ve been earned by way of ransom paid by the trafficked people’s loved ones.
In its report, detailing the enterprise, as quoted by The Record, the company stated, “We see that while the addresses were provided to victims’ families as a means of ransom payment, both have also received significant funds from a number of known scam addresses. Our on-chain analysis shows how tightly interwoven pig butchering gangs’ ransom-taking operations are with their primary business of conducting romance scams… not only are consumers being bilked out of hundreds of millions of dollars each year, but the gangs behind those scams are also perpetuating a humanitarian crisis.”
The investigation also brought to light that two digital currency addresses – pertaining to the same business entity – were used to acquire the funds.
Based on this revelation, the company also pointed out, “Given that these are just two addresses from a single company operating out of KK Park, we can infer that on the whole, pig butchering scammers working out of the compound are making significant sums.”
What is the International Justice Mission
The International Justice Mission is a 27-year-old organisation that tackles the menace of human trafficking primarily. Established in the US, the Mission’s efforts have seen to its branches getting set up across the world.
