Levi Sap Nei Thang (Burmese: လီဗီစပ်နိုင်ထန်း) is a Burmese-born American perfume entrepreneur known for the purchasing of hundreds of federal leases from the Bureau of Land Management and flipping them to Burmese immigrants at high profit margins.[1][2]
Career
editBusiness
editLevi was born in Chin State, Myanmar, and immigrated to the United States in 2000. She launched the Myanmar Bible Software in 2006, which includes 16 Bibles of the ethnic languages in Myanmar. The software project was started in 2003 in partnership with Myanmar Bible Society, the United Bible Society (UBS) and the CrossWire Bible Society.[3] She is representing Myanmar at Expo 2023 Kahramanmaraş in Turkey. She signed a contract with Mayor Hanefi Machcicek of Onikişubat City, Kahramamanras.[4] Levi represented Myanmar at Expo 2016 in Antalya, Turkey. She represented Myanmar and designed the Myanmar Pavilion at the 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition in Taichung, Taiwan.[5][6]
Registered in Wyoming in July, Levi Sap Nei Thang LLC is one of her companies, with offices claimed in seven states. Additionally, her cosmetics business operates out of Los Angeles, while a foundation established in honor of her late daughter is headquartered in Missouri. She became a public figure in the Burmese immigrant community, describing herself on Facebook as a successful businesswoman, and a philanthropist.[7] CNN reports that she is the deputy director of Myanmar Pavilion, which says she was appointed by the previous government of Aung San Suu Kyi.[8]
Fraud allegations
editIn 2020, she became one of the United States' top buyers of oil and gas leases at the Trump administration's federal auctions. She has spent about $3.7 million on nearly 300 government leases covering 133,000 acres in 12 states.[2]
Levi mass purchased oil leases in 2020 and claimed, "I always wanted to be an owner of oil and gas drilling, People have contacted me to see if I would sell and I said no. They said they would pay a little more."[1] She quickly resold the oil leases in the United States at very high profit margins to the Burmese people with no oil drilling experience. She advertised the leases on social media to her 600,000 followers, promising them high returns. Thang sold one or more drilling leases to Burmese immigrants at prices ranging from one-and-a-half to 13 times what she initially paid. In the instances reviewed by Reuters, she garnered almost $335,000, acquiring the leases for about $215,000 and promptly reselling them for over $550,000.[2]
In April 2021, a Burmese immigrant operating a sushi-making enterprise in Texas initiated a lawsuit against Levi Sap Nei Thang and two of her enterprises in federal court.[2] According to court documents, she stood trial in Los Angeles in January 2024.[9]
Humanitarian
editLevi founded the charitable organization I Love Myanmar in 2001, which has provided many relief aids to the people affected by Cyclone Nargis since 2008. Her daughter died while she was supporting the victims of the cyclone. She has donated the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to Yangon Children's Hospital and medicines to other hospitals in Chin State in memory of her daughter Emanuel. She has also established the Emanuel Foundation.[10][11]
She donated 286 houses for storm survivors in Daukkyi and Thechaung, Bogale, the southern part of Myanmar. The donation was accepted by Brig-Gen Kyaw Myint, the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement of Myanmar.[12]
Levi was married to Daniel Lim who for many years was CEO of the International House of Prayer, alongside Mike Bickle who, in 2023, confessed to sexual misconduct.
References
edit- ^ a b Maffly, Brian (2020-10-12). "Who is Levi Sap Nei Thang and why is she buying up hundreds of oil and gas leases in Utah and across the West?". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
- ^ a b c d Groom, Nichola (2021-03-22). "How a Burmese immigrant profited by flipping cheap oil leases from Trump auctions". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
- ^ Bible Society, CrossWire (17 Jan 2019). "Module Request". Crosswire.
- ^ Thang, Tial Lian. "Levi Sap Nei Thang is exhibiting Myanmar in Turkey ". The Chin Express. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
- ^ "Myanmar flower design wows in Taiwan flora expo". The Myanmar Times. 12 November 2018.
- ^ Aung, YiYi (17 May 2019). "Levi Sap Nei Thang dedicated her life for Myanmar". BBC Burmese. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
- ^ "Myanmar-born 'dreamer' snaps up U.S. drilling leases amid industry malaise". Reuters. 9 October 2020.
- ^ Mallo, Scott McLean,Gio Prati,Charbel (2021-10-10). "Dubai Expo presents a facade of 192 nations at peace. The reality is never far from the surface". CNN. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Burmese Immigrant Who Flipped US Oil Leases on Trial in Los Angeles". Reuters. 8 January 2024.
- ^ "'I Love Myanmar' to develop Chin state". Burma News International. 11 March 2010.
- ^ "ပြင်သစ်မှာပြတဲ့ ပြခန်းပေါင်း ၂၀၀ ကျော်မှာ မြန်မာ ပြခန်းလူတွေစိတ်ဝင်စား". BBC News မြန်မာ (in Burmese). 17 May 2019.
- ^ Library, Burma (25 July 2008). "Levi Sap Nei Thang donated 286 houses for storm survivors" (PDF). The New Light of Myanmar. Retrieved 25 July 2008.