By Panu Wongcha-um and Poppy McPherson
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai officials found assets belonging to adult children of Myanmar’s junta leader during a raid on the Bangkok apartment of a Myanmar tycoon charged with drug trafficking and money laundering, in accordance with an official record and two individuals with knowledge of the case.
Title deeds and bankbooks belonging to Min Aung Hlaing’s daughter and son were found at the house of Tun Min Latt, 53, when he was arrested within the Thai capital last September together with three Thai nationals on charges of conspiracy to traffic narcotics and money laundering.
Tun Min Latt, who has interests in hotels, energy and mining, is a detailed associate of Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power from the democratically elected government in February 2021, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters last 12 months. He has procured supplies for the military, the sources said. Publicly available pictures show them together at an arms fair in 2019.
Tun Min Latt is in pre-trial detention; his lawyer couldn’t be reached for comment.
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Min Aung Hlaing’s two children face no legal motion over the assets, in accordance with the 2 individuals with knowledge of the case. They added that Thai authorities didn’t consider them relevant to the investigation against Tun Min Latt.
Min Aung Hlaing’s son Aung Pyae Sone and his daughter Khin Thiri Thet Mon, who together with their father have been sanctioned by america and Canada, didn’t reply to requests for comment by Reuters. The U.S said they’d businesses that “directly benefited from their father’s position and malign influence”.
Their father also couldn’t be reached for comment, and messages to Myanmar’s military junta went unanswered.
The invention of the documents indicated close ties between Tun Min Latt and the Myanmar junta chief’s family.
A spokesperson for the activist group Justice for Myanmar said the invention also indicated Min Aung Hlaing’s family was hiding assets in Thailand and urged the Thai government to take “urgent motion to forestall it from becoming a refuge for Myanmar war criminals by blocking the illegitimate Myanmar junta and its members from accessing Thai banks and property, and freezing stolen assets that belong to the people of Myanmar”.
Thai government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri declined to comment and referred questions from Reuters to law enforcement agencies, who didn’t reply to requests for comment.
Throughout the September raid on Tun Min Latt’s apartment within the Belle Grand Rama 9 condominium in Bangkok, police said they’d seized $8.96 million price of assets including luxury cars, watches and expensive bags, together with $239,091 in money.
In accordance with an official asset seizure record dated Sept. 17, 2022, in addition they uncovered title deeds and a purchase order contract from 2017 of a four-bedroom unit in the identical condo within the name of Aung Pyae Sone, together with two Siam Business Bank (SCB) bankbooks for accounts within the name of Khin Thiri Thet Mon.
The document was obtained by Justice for Myanmar and independently verified by Reuters with two sources with knowledge of the case.
For the reason that coup, Min Aung Hlaing’s forces have launched a bloody crackdown on dissent, killing hundreds of opponents, in accordance with the United Nations, which accuses Myanmar’s troops of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The military says it’s waging a war on “terrorists”.
Thailand, which shares a land border of greater than 2,000 km with Myanmar, has kept away from overt criticism of the junta and last month invited junta ministers to attend a regional summit, which was boycotted by several nations due to their presence.
The 2 individuals with knowledge of the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to discuss with media, confirmed that the assets belonging to Min Aung Hlaing’s children had been found in the course of the raid.
Reuters has confirmed that Khin Thiri Thet Mon’s checking account has since been closed, but was unable to find out who closed it or when. SCB and the Belle Grand Rama 9 condominium didn’t reply to requests for comment.
The Thai police, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) and the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) also didn’t reply to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Poppy McPherson; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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