The junta on Tuesday launched an internal investigation into one of its powerful members, Lt-General Moe Myint Tun, for corruption, according to sources close to the probe.
The investigation came days after the 55-year-old general was placed under house arrest and interrogated after the arrest of one of his key subordinates and interrogations of hundreds of businesspeople who had dealings with him.
Ranked number six in the Myanmar military, Moe Myint Tun was treated by the regime chief Min Aung Hlaing as his protégé. He is the youngest member of the regime’s governing State Administration Council.
He oversaw Myanmar’s economic affairs, chairing the junta-controlled Myanmar Investment Commission and the Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee. The latter was formed by the regime in response to a US dollar shortage and controls the Central Bank of Myanmar. All are widely considered fertile grounds for corruption.
As part of a campaign to rein in soaring commodity prices and foreign exchange rates, the junta arrested Brig-Gen Yan Naung Soe, who led the junta’s Central Committee on Ensuring Smooth Flow of Trade and Goods, earlier this month. Since then, the regime has interrogated hundreds of importers, exporters, bankers and officials at military-owned businesses, including Myawaddy Bank and conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation.
The interrogations allegedly revealed that Moe Myint Tun had squirreled away millions of US dollars in bribes from businesspeople over the past two years. Some businesspeople told The Irrawaddy they had to pay him at least US$20,000 or the equivalent in gold and gifts—Louis XIII cognac, with a list price of more than US$4,000 for a 750ml bottle, was highly preferred—just to meet him.
Meanwhile, Brig-Gen Yan Naung Soe was released because the junta wants to use him in the legal case against Moe Myint Tun, under whose supervision he worked on trade and related issues.
