Myanmar parliament passes crypto scam bill with penalties up to life

Myanmar’s Parliament passed an anti-online scam bill that would impose prison terms of 10 years to life for crypto scams and operating online scam centers.The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, Myanmar’s combined Parliament, approved the bill in its entirety on Tuesday after resolving differences between versions previously passed by its two chambers, according to the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM). The report did not say whether the bill had received presidential assent or when it would take effect. The legislation is Myanmar’s latest attempt to curb a growing cyberscam industry that has turned parts of the country into hubs for online fraud.A draft of the bill was published in May, prohibiting crypto scams and imposing penalties ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment. It also allows sentences of 10 years to life or capital punishment for violence, torture, unlawful arrest or detention used to force people into online scams, with the death penalty required when the conduct causes death. According to a Strait Times report citing the Agence France-Presse, Lower House MP Aye Chan said that the final version retained the death-penalty provision and that there were no significant ch...