Dozens of Tax Officials Busted for Graft Under Thein Sein Govt: Source

By Moe Myint 15 January 2016

RANGOON — More than 30 members of the Internal Revenue Department in Naypyidaw have been expelled or disciplined over the past five years for corruption, a senior department official has said.

“All of these cases have been in connection with bribery and corruption,” the source said.

Between 2011 and 2012, nine staff members were expelled and another 14 punished and prevented from advancing their careers within the department. This number declined between 2013 and 2015, however, when only four people were expelled and disciplinary action taken against another six.

Burma consistently ranks poorly in global assessments of corruption in government.

In June 2015, National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi called on the party’s election candidates to be open about their personal assets, including bank account details, business interests, investments and immovable property.

Only one month before the NLD is set to form the new government, the results of this move, seen by many as an implicit criticism of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), have yet to be made public.

“We just want to show that the NLD has transparency. If they [NLD members] can’t reveal their assets, how can people rely on them?” Suu Kyi said last year.

“We will do this because people who are going to work for the country have to be free from corruption. I want to know that a candidate is not interested in the good of themselves and their families but only for the country.”