US Lifts Sanctions on Daughter of Myanmar Businessman Following Lawsuit

The United States has removed sanctions on Theint Win Htet, the daughter of a Myanmar businessman accused of supporting the military-installed government.

The US Department of the Treasury removed Theint Win Htet from its sanctions list on Friday, according to its website, after she initiated legal action against them in July. The decision followed a Reuters news agency report indicating that the administration of US President Donald Trump has opened talks with Myanmar’s government, marking a shift from years of US policy that targeted the generals responsible for the 2021 coup against Myanmar’s democratically elected government.

In January 2024, the Treasury Department under the administration of former President Joe Biden targeted the Shwe Byain Phyu Group of Companies, founded by Theint Win Htet’s father, Thein Win Zaw, and his family. The department stated that the company supplied fuel to the military and owned at least 20 firms closely tied to military leadership.

Theint Win Htet initially requested her removal in a lawsuit filed against the Biden administration, which was dismissed last year. She subsequently filed a second complaint in July, arguing that she holds no role in her father’s business. The sanctions had blocked her US credit cards, restricted her foreign bank accounts, and forced her to abandon her master’s degree studies at Columbia University in New York. She currently resides in Thailand with her mother, who was removed from the US sanctions list last year.

Theint Win Htet’s lawyer, Washington, DC-based sanctions specialist Erich Ferrari, filed a notice with the federal court in the US capital on Friday to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit following her delisting.

The advocacy group Justice For Myanmar condemned the Treasury Department’s decision, noting that Myanmar’s military is escalating attacks on civilians. "It is deplorable that the US government continues to delist Myanmar cronies and their family members that provide funding for the junta’s terror," the group stated.

The Biden administration previously imposed sanctions on military officers and companies following the 2021 coup, an event that triggered a civil war resulting in approximately 100,000 deaths and the displacement of more than 3.5 million people. Washington also lifted sanctions in July of last year on several other Myanmar nationals and a company accused of aiding the military.