Federal prosecutors in San Diego unseal charges Tuesday against six alleged managers and recruiters of Southeast Asian scam centers as part of an international operation that results in at least 276 arrests and the dismantlement of nine compounds used for cryptocurrency investment fraud targeting U.S. citizens.
- FBI agents and Dubai Police dismantle nine crypto scam compounds across Thailand and the UAE in a joint global operation.
- Authorities arrest 276 suspects following $8.65 billion in reported 2025 cryptocurrency investment fraud losses linked to pig-butchering schemes.
- Federal prosecutors charge Thet Min Nyi and five others for managing criminal organizations that launder stolen funds via fraudulent platforms.
Cross-Border Operation Nets Suspects in Dubai and Thailand
The operation, spearheaded by Dubai Police under the UAE Ministry of Interior, led to 275 arrests by Dubai authorities and an additional arrest by the Royal Thai Police, according to the Justice Department. Among those apprehended were three defendants charged in the Southern District of California: Thet Min Nyi, 27, a Burmese national; Andreas Chandra, 29, an Indonesian national; and Lisa Mariam, 29, an Indonesian national. Thai police arrested Wiliang Awang, 23, an Indonesian national.
Two fugitive co-conspirators remained at large as of the announcement.
“The charges and arrests announced today reflect an international consensus that scam centers are unwelcome everywhere and must be rooted out,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement. “In contemporary society, fraud is borderless, and law enforcement activity to combat it and eliminate it is as well.”
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the operation on X, calling it a “Massive, global scam center takedown led by FBI with our great federal and international partners” and noting that the centers involved losses of millions of dollars.
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👉 Submit Your PRAlleged Scam Organizations Operated Under Three Company Names
According to the indictment and two criminal complaints, the defendants managed, worked for and recruited others to work at three companies operating scam centers: “Ko Thet Company,” “Sanduo Group” and “Giant Company.” All six defendants allegedly engaged in “pig-butchering,” a scheme where scammers cultivate trust with victims through friendship or romance before persuading them to send money to fake cryptocurrency investments.
FBI San Diego agents opened a Homeland Security Task Force investigation in 2025 after identifying multiple companies and individuals managing scam compounds. Investigators analyzed financial and cryptocurrency records and interviewed victims identified through complaints filed with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Prosecutors said the alleged scammers promoted cryptocurrency investments, assisted victims in setting up accounts, and directed them to transfer funds to investment platforms that, unbeknownst to victims, were fraudulent. Once victims transferred funds to the suggested platforms, they lost control of their cryptocurrency. The fake platforms placed the victims’ funds in the hands of the scammers, who then laundered the money to other cryptocurrency accounts.
In March 2026, a grand jury in the Southern District of California returned an indictment against Thet Min Nyi and a fugitive co-defendant charging them with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. In April 2026, two criminal complaints charged Awang, Chandra, their fugitive co-defendant, and Mariam with wire fraud conspiracy. Each charge carried a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Operation Part of Broader Crackdown on Crypto Fraud
The takedown followed an executive order signed March 6 directing the administration to prioritize cybercrime, fraud and predatory schemes draining American families of their life savings. The investigation was led by the Homeland Security Task Force, established under Executive Order 14159, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.”
The FBI’s Operation Level Up, which began in 2024 as a San Diego and Phoenix joint initiative, proactively identified and notified victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. As of April 2026, the FBI notified almost 9,000 victims and saved an estimated $562 million. FBI San Diego also investigated the Tai Chang Scam Enterprise, a series of scam compounds in Burma’s Karen State conducting similar cryptocurrency investment fraud against Americans.
The scale of crypto investment scams in 2025 reached $8.65 billion in losses, accounting for 72% of all investment fraud losses that year, according to FBI data.
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, provided critical information for the investigation, according to the Justice Department.
Chain Street’s Take
The unprecedented cooperation between the FBI, Dubai Police and Chinese Ministry of Public Security demonstrated that pig-butchering compounds have moved from a tolerated nuisance to a priority target across three major jurisdictions. The charges against mid-level managers carried less weight than the infrastructure being dismantled: nine centers and 276 arrests. Legitimate crypto projects continued building without these criminal enterprises, which have long hidden behind the industry’s pseudonymity. Those operations ran out of places to hide.
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