Exclusive: American businessman arrested in Myanmar linked to lobbying dispute

American businessman Adam Castillo, the former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar (AMCHAM Myanmar), was arrested at Yangon International Airport last week after returning from Malaysia, according to police sources and people familiar with the matter. Castillo, who is based in Yangon, was detained alongside two other individuals upon arrival and is currently being interrogated by military intelligence, according to police sources. Myanmar authorities have not publicly disclosed the grounds for the arrests. A former US Marine Corps officer who moved to Myanmar in 2013, Castillo is the founder and chief executive of AGS Myanmar, a security and risk management company. He became a prominent figure in Myanmar’s foreign business community and later served as president of AMCHAM Myanmar. According to his website, he has advised international companies operating in Myanmar and has been involved in business advocacy and policy engagement for more than a decade. Before returning to Yangon, Castillo had been in Malaysia promoting his recently published memoir, Finding Our Voice, which recounts his experiences building businesses in Myanmar and navigating the country’s political and economic upheavals, including the aftermath of the 2021 military coup. The arrest comes amid a bitter dispute over the US-Burma Economic Forum, a Washington-based advocacy platform established during Castillo’s tenure at AMCHAM Myanmar. The lobbying effort unfolded as rare earth minerals in northern Myanmar emerged as a growing subject of interest in Washington. Reuters reported last year that Castillo attended a meeting in the offices of US Vice President J.D. Vance with advisers on Asian affairs and trade, where proposals were discussed for securing US access to Myanmar’s rare earth resources as part of efforts to reduce dependence on China. According to AMCHAM Myanmar’s FY2025-26 annual report, the chamber’s board established a governance committee in June 2025 to review the Forum’s structure, activities, and oversight arrangements after concerns emerged regarding its funding activities and external engagements. The report states that the board was unable to obtain complete information regarding the Forum’s operations. The chair of the Forum resigned on July 18, 2025. Sources familiar with the matter identified the Forum chair as Castillo. People familiar with the initiative said the Forum was established to facilitate engagement between Myanmar financial institutions and US policymakers at a time when Myanmar banks faced growing international scrutiny and sanctions-related concerns. According to sources, the Forum engaged Washington lobbying firm Mercury Public Affairs, with sanctions specialist Peter Kucik leading the work. Participating Myanmar banks reportedly funded the initiative, although the specific amounts contributed by individual institutions have not been publicly disclosed. Sources said both the banks involved and Mercury preferred to keep the arrangement low-profile, with payment amounts and financial arrangements remaining confidential. The annual report states that following Castillo’s resignation from the Forum, the board discovered that two former board members had entered into a contract dated November 19, 2024 with Mercury Public Affairs, purportedly on behalf of AMCHAM Myanmar. AMCHAM Myanmar subsequently commissioned Luther Law Firm to conduct an independent review of the arrangement. According to an executive summary of Luther’s findings included in the annual report, the contract involved an engagement valued at up to US$300,000 through August 2025 and was “not formally authorised by the Board,” while related funds were “apparently collected and disbursed outside AMCHAM Myanmar’s accounts.” The report further states that the board concluded the contract had not been presented to or approved by either the previous or current board, that no authorisation had been granted for its execution on behalf of AMCHAM Myanmar, and that transactions referenced in the agreement did not appear in the chamber’s financial records. Luther advised that the agreement had not been validly approved by the chamber and warned that ratifying it could expose AMCHAM Myanmar to risks under company, tax, foreign exchange, and anti-money laundering laws. The law firm also identified what the board described as “significant legal and compliance concerns, including criminal-law risks.” Sources familiar with the dispute said tensions escalated after businessman Khin Maung Win returned as president of AMCHAM Myanmar several months after the Forum was established. Questions were subsequently raised about the Forum’s activities, finances and governance arrangements, they said, but the board was not satisfied with the explanations it received. The controversy led to wider turmoil within the chamber. AMCHAM Myanmar Executive Director Danny Kyaw was dismissed, while a separate security briefing platform operated by Castillo for chamber members was discontinued, according to sources. In March 2026, AMCHAM Myanmar declined to renew the memberships of Castillo and Misfit Technologies, a member company that had also been involved in the Forum initiative. The annual report does not accuse Castillo of wrongdoing and does not explicitly connect the Forum review to the criminal complaint that led to his arrest. However, it notes that the chamber later declined to renew the memberships of two corporate members whose representatives were found to have engaged in the unauthorised execution of agreements and failed to cooperate with the board’s governance review. Following the dispute, Castillo filed a civil defamation lawsuit against certain members of the current AMCHAM Myanmar board, according to sources familiar with the matter. In response to questions from Myanmar Now, Luther Law Firm declined to comment on the substance of its review, citing client confidentiality obligations. “As Luther’s engagements are subject to client confidentiality, please contact AmCham directly for any information,” Alexander Bohusch of Luther said in an email. Bohusch also rejected suggestions that the firm’s review may have been affected by a conflict of interest. He said Luther was not a member of AMCHAM Myanmar when it was engaged to conduct the review and that neither current AMCHAM Myanmar president Khin Maung Win nor his company were clients of the firm. Neither Castillo nor AMCHAM Myanmar immediately responded to requests for comment. It remains unclear whether the allegations that led to Castillo’s arrest are directly related to the US-Burma Economic Forum, the Mercury Public Affairs contract, the ongoing litigation between Castillo and AMCHAM board members, or another matter connected to his tenure at the chamber.

Exclusive: American businessman arrested in Myanmar linked to lobbying dispute

The arrest comes as concerns over a secretive Washington lobbying initiative roil Myanmar’s American business community

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