BANGKOK (AP) — The man who previously led the American Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar has been taken into custody after arriving back in Yangon, following the organization’s disclosure that it had been investigating suspicious financial dealings by former board members.
Adam Castillo, who founded and owns a security risk management company called AGS Myanmar, was apprehended Thursday at Yangon International Airport, according to a source familiar with the situation who asked not to be named due to safety concerns.
AGS Myanmar told The Associated Press only that the situation was “an ongoing matter” and declined to say anything further. An email sent to Castillo through his personal website went unanswered.
The U.S. State Department confirmed it had received reports of an American citizen being held in Myanmar but said it was unable to comment further, citing privacy considerations.
Myanmar’s military-backed government issued no official statement on the detention. Requests for comment sent to the government, the Yangon regional government office, and the Yangon Regional Police Department all went unanswered. Authorities in Myanmar, a country currently engulfed in civil war, rarely engage with international press.
However, several media outlets with ties to the military — including NP News — reported that Castillo had been arrested following a formal complaint filed against him by the American Chamber of Commerce. He served as the organization’s president from 2023 to 2025.
When asked about the complaint, the chamber’s executive director, Myat Phyu The, said she was unable to share specifics but pointed to the organization’s May 29 annual report, saying it “covers the issue at hand.” The chamber works to support American business interests.
According to that report, the current board discovered last year that certain transactions had been made by “former board representatives” under suspicious circumstances, and the matter was sent to a law firm for review.
Investigators found that “a former board representative” had entered into a contract in November 2024 with a Washington-based public relations firm. That firm paid him $300,000 that was “apparently collected and disbursed outside AMCHAM Myanmar’s accounts.”
“The signature exceeded the signing limits of individual board representatives, the board never approved the agreement,” the report stated. “AMCHAM Myanmar received no funds, made no payments, and received no services, and the matter was not disclosed to the statutory auditors.”
The report references “two former members of the board” as being connected to the case, though neither is identified by name, and no information is provided about what legal steps the organization may have taken. Myat Phyu The declined to elaborate further.
A statement posted to the organization’s website on June 12 said the board “has taken appropriate steps to safeguard the interests of the organization and its members.”
Myanmar has been in turmoil since its military forcibly removed democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power in 2021 and violently cracked down on peaceful protests that followed. The crackdown sparked armed resistance from pro-democracy fighters and ethnic minority militias working to push out the military government.
Since the military seized control, Myanmar has seen a growing number of foreigners detained, with foreign journalists covering the country’s political crisis being particularly targeted.
AGS Myanmar, founded in 2013, lists security services on its website alongside offerings such as commercial cleaning and pest control.
Castillo’s company biography describes him as a former U.S. Marine officer who served in Afghanistan and currently chairs “Republican Overseas Myanmar,” a group established in 2024 to advance what it calls “America First policies in Myanmar and across the region.”
It remains unclear where Castillo had been traveling before returning to Myanmar and being detained. His Instagram account, however, shows that just one day before his arrest, he was attending a business forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he also promoted a book he recently published.
That memoir, titled “Finding Our Voice,” chronicles his time in Myanmar during the political upheaval, violence, and economic hardship that followed the military takeover, according to its description.
Whether the book had any connection to his detention remains unknown.
