Belarusian woman, 26, lured with modelling offer & trafficked: 5 Myanmar nationals jailed over her death

Five Myanmar nationals have been given 21 years' jail over the death of a Belarusian model who was trafficked to a scam compound in Myanmar under the guise of a modelling gig in October 2025.

Vera Kravtsova, a 26-year-old singer and aspiring model, thought that she was meeting modelling recruiters in Bangkok, but ended up being trafficked across the Thai-Myanmar border.

She was reportedly made to work at a scam compound in Myanmar.

Her family lost contact with her in early October 2025, and they were told her body had been "cremated" after they did not meet ransom demands to repatriate her body.

Arrest warrants issued

According to Burmese news outlet DVB, the five individuals were sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Arrest warrants were also issued for three other Myanmar and two Tajkistanis nationals in relation to the case.

It is not known how the local police tracked and arrested the five suspects.

Background

Kravtsova reportedly left Minsk around early September 2025 for a purported modelling gig in Bangkok.

She later ended up in Myanmar and was forced to carry out scam work at a compound.

Sometime in early October 2025, her family stopped hearing from her.

They were later told that the 26-year-old had died.

The family received messages demanding US$500,000 (S$646,400) for the return of her body.

They refused to pay, and were told her body had been "cremated".

Russian outlets claimed that her organs had been sold because she failed to bring in enough earnings for the syndicate.

Myanmar recently passed an anti-scam law, punishing those found guilty of being involved in forced labour, torture and cyber-fraud operations with life imprisonment or capital punishment.