Myanmar’s parliament passes an anti-scam bill: the maximum penalty for crypto scams can be life imprisonment, and forcing people into “slave labor” can still result in the death penalty.

Myanmar’s parliament passed an anti-online fraud bill on Tuesday, stipulating that the highest penalty for cryptocurrency fraud is life imprisonment, while forcing people into online scams through violence, torture, or illegal detention can be punished by death.
(Background: Southeast Asia scam syndicate “doom day”? Myanmar plans a new law: crypto fraud locked up until death, and illegal detention of “pigs” sentenced up to death)
(Additional background: On-chain tracking of Myanmar’s KK scam park: only two addresses, receiving nearly $100 million worth of cryptocurrency)

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• Core provisions of the bill
• Evolution of Myanmar’s scam industry
• Significance for Southeast Asia

Myanmar’s parliament (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw) formally passed the “Anti-Online Fraud Bill” on Tuesday, July 28. The bill provides that people who commit cryptocurrency fraud can face up to life imprisonment, and those who coerce others into committing online fraud through violence, torture, or illegal detention can face the death penalty at most, with the most severe punishment being death.

This is yet another legislative effort by Myanmar to curb the scam industry. Scam parks across multiple Southeast Asian countries have boomed in recent years, with large numbers of “pigs” forced to engage in cryptocurrency and investment fraud.

Core provisions of the bill

According to a report by Myanmar’s state-run media, Global New Light of Myanmar, after resolving differences between versions handled by both houses of parliament, the bill was passed unanimously. The draft bill was released in May this year, with key provisions including:

• Cryptocurrency fraud: 10 years to life imprisonment
• Violence, torture, illegal detention: 10 years to life imprisonment, or the death penalty; if it leads to death, the death penalty must be imposed
• Operation of scam centers: also included within the scope of criminal liability

Lower house lawmaker Aye Chan confirmed to the Straits Times that the final version retains the death-penalty provision, and there were no major changes to important clauses compared with the May draft.

Evolution of Myanmar’s scam industry

Myanmar’s scam industry does not form overnight. From the May draft stage targeting cryptocurrency fraud, to the coordination and passage through both houses of parliament, the scope covered by the bill has expanded from simply “investment fraud” to “operation of online scam centers,” while the sentencing severity has also kept increasing.

Notably, the operating model of Myanmar’s scam parks is already linked to cryptocurrency. According to a prior report by Dazhong Qu, only Myanmar’s KK park’s two addresses received nearly $100 million in cryptocurrency, indicating that scam funds have long been fully digitized.

The bill has not yet announced the timing of the president’s signing and the official effective date, and the final amended text has also not been published. The precise wording of cryptocurrency-related penalties still needs to await official confirmation.

Significance for Southeast Asia

Myanmar is one of the core hubs of the scam industry in Southeast Asia. From Vietnam to the Philippines, scam parks have expanded across the entire region. Myanmar’s legislative move also provides a benchmark reference for anti-scam strategies in neighboring countries.

Compared with Taiwan’s “Act Governing the Prevention of Fraud Crimes,” Myanmar’s bill imposes much harsher penalties: in Taiwan, the maximum penalty for fraud is NT$100 million, while Myanmar directly issues the death penalty and life imprisonment.