Levi Sap Nei Thang Fraud
Verdict: $3.2 Million Ordered After Refugee Oil-Lease Scam
15 June 2025 — U.S. District Court, Los
Angeles
Levi
Sap Nei Thang, a Burmese-born business-influencer, was found liable on 12 June
2025 for defrauding fellow Burmese refugees in the United States through the
resale of federally auctioned oil-and-gas leases at mark-ups of up to 1,300
percent. Judge Hernán D. Vera awarded roughly $3.2 million in damages to 12
victims, including $457,000 in economic losses and $1.4 million each in
punitive and organizational fraud penalties.
How the scheme
unfolded
·
Cheap leases, costly promises – Court records show that between
2020-22, Thang spent about $3.7 million acquiring hundreds of Bureau of Land Management
leases, then resold parcels to newly arrived Burmese immigrants via Facebook
livestreams, assuring “guaranteed” profits and technical support she was not
qualified to provide.
·
Affinity fraud dynamics – The U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission classifies such community-based swindles as affinity fraud, warning that trust rooted in
shared language, faith or ethnicity lowers due-diligence barriers.
·
Victim impact – Many buyers were first-generation
refugees working low-wage jobs; they exhausted savings and later lost the
leases for non-payment of annual fees when no drilling ever occurred. Judge
Vera described the losses as “substantial and deeply discouraging” for
households already facing linguistic and financial hurdles.
Legal and
regulatory implications
·
Strengthened deterrence – White-collar-crime scholars argue
the verdict signals tougher federal intolerance of influencer-driven investment
scams. Columbia Law professor John C. Coffee, Jr., notes that recent SEC and
FTC coordination “raises the real cost of exploiting vulnerable investor
groups,” a trend echoed by this judgment (commentary in CLS Blue Sky blog, May 2025).
·
Broader fraud landscape – FTC data released in March 2025
show investment scams cost consumers $5.7 billion in 2024, up 24 percent
year-on-year, with bank transfers and crypto the largest loss channels.
Regulators say community-targeted schemes like Thang’s contribute
disproportionately to that surge.
·
Preventive guidance – SEC bulletins urge prospective
investors to:
1. Verify
licensing and
disciplinary records of any seller.
2. Demand
written documentation of
fees, timelines and risks.
3. Be
skeptical of “guaranteed returns” or pressure to keep the offer confidential