Case Results
Burmese celebrity entrepreneur hit with $3.2 million verdict for defrauding refugees.
Case Description
LOS ANGELES (CN) — A Burmese entrepreneur, who is a celebrity among the Southeast Asian community in the U.S., is on the hook for $3.2 million in damages for fleecing refugees from Myanmar out of their life savings with false promises of riches from “oil land.”
U.S. District Judge Hernán Vera on Thursday awarded a group of about a dozen defrauded Burmese immigrants $457,000 in economic damages, $1.4 million in punitive damages as well as $1.4 million in treble damages on their racketeering claim against Levi Sap Nei Thang.
“Put simply, Thang’s fraud and racketeering were widespread in scope, despicable in both form and substance, and caused enormous economic harm to the plaintiffs,” the judge said.
Thang, a Burmese immigrant who came to the U.S. in 2001, is a well-known figure in the Burmese American community, with business ventures spanning fashion, books, and perfume. Beginning in 2018, she purchased oil and gas leases, which she never developed, and resold them at steep markups to working-class Burmese refugees with limited English and industry knowledge. Plaintiffs say they were lured in by Thang’s Facebook livestreams, where she claimed insider expertise and pitched the deals as community-boosting opportunities sold at cost.
In one such livestream, Thang claimed that “In the American oil market, I am the only person from Burma. That’s why, if you are from Burma… and are interested in acquiring oil land, I will register for you…”
In addition, she told potential investors: “I will give [the leases] away at the same price I paid when I bought them. I do not need money for profit. Nothing at all.”
At a February bench trial, the Burmese refugees, who work as repairmen, cleaners and restaurant staff, testified they were drawn in by Thang’s claimed expertise and status in their community. They believed they were buying land, not leases, sold at cost out of goodwill, and that Thang and her brother would help with drilling.
“Plaintiffs—first-generation immigrants with limited English fluency, most with no formal education in the United States and no knowledge of the oil and gas industry—relied on Thang’s purported experience in the oil and gas industry and claims about the value of their purchases,” the judge said. “Indeed, Thang represented to several Plaintiffs that she would assist them in profiting from their leases.”
As a result, the plaintiffs drained their savings, only to end up with oil and gas leases they couldn’t develop. Unable to cover annual property taxes, many stopped paying, and the leases were eventually reclaimed by the states.
Thang testified at trial that she had no formal training in the oil and gas industry and that she educated herself by visiting energy company offices, reading magazines, and speaking to people in oil fields, according to the judge’s findings.
She also testified that she has never hired anyone to drill or paid any fees to drill. However, before completing her direct examination, Thang invoked her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
Thang’s attorney said they intend to challenge Vera’s order.
“Through handling this case, I have learned that the Burmese people are the most kindhearted and pure souls you’ll ever meet,” Alex Farzan, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said in a statement. “The defendant knew that very well and exploited my clients and other victims. My clients refused to enter into a settlement agreement with the defendant because they wanted their day in court. This was a long battle and we never stopped fighting until justice was served. We couldn’t be any happier with Judge Vera’s decision.”