Burma
Three companies owned by a Myanmar arms dealer with ties to the children of Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing are being dissolved, according to regime media.
The companies being wound up are Star Sapphire Phoenix Co Ltd, Star Sapphire Dragon Co Ltd, and Royal Mawtaung Mining Co Ltd.
All three are subsidiaries of the Star Sapphire Group of Companies owned by Tun Min Latt, an arms dealer to the Myanmar military regime who was arrested last year in Thailand on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering.
Star Sapphire Group has numerous joint ventures with the country’s two military-owned conglomerates, Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), sources said. It has also brokered imports of Israeli reconnaissance drones and aircraft parts for the Myanmar Air Force.
Tun Min Latt, 53, was arrested along with three Thai nationals in Bangkok in September last year. They face narcotics and money laundering charges. Over 200 million baht (US$5.4 million) worth of drugs and other items were confiscated from the suspects, the Thai police said.
Ma Yadanar Maung from Justice For Myanmar, an activist group campaigning for justice and accountability, said the companies are being dissolved to evade sanctions against Star Sapphire Group.
“I view it as an attempt to avoid possible sanctions against the entire network of Star Sapphire and [linked] individuals. Sanctions against Tun Min Latt and his associates have likely affected their entire business network. It is important to impose sanctions against the entire business network of Star Sapphire and keep putting pressure on businesses owned by other cronies and all the arms dealers,” said Ma Yadanar Maung.
The US imposed sanctions on Star Sapphire Group, Star Sapphire Trading Company Ltd, Star Sapphire Group Pte Ltd, and two of their owners, Tun Min Latt and his wife Win Min Soe, in March this year. The UK also sanctioned Star Sapphire Group in August 2022.
The head office of Star Sapphire Phoenix Co Ltd is located in Yangon’s Bahan Township, according newspaper notices. The two other companies being shuttered are headquartered in Ottarathiri Township, Naypyitaw. The notices said Star Sapphire Phoenix was dissolved on June 16, Royal Mawtaung Mining on June 2, and Star Sapphire Dragon on June 9.
Among the directors and shareholders of the companies are Tun Min Latt’s wife Daw Win Min Soe and Htet Aung, son of retired Brigadier-General Zin Yaw.
Min Aung Hlaing’s daughter, Khin Thiri Thet Mon, was a co-founder of Royal Mawtaung Mining Co Ltd, previously known as Star Thiri Investment Ltd. She however reportedly resigned from the company’s board of directors in 2020.
Tun Min Latt’s deep ties to Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing’s family were revealed when Thai police found bankbooks and title deeds to a luxury condominium owned by Khin Thiri Thet Mon and her brother Aung Pyae Sone among items seized during the raid in September. Both Khin Thiri Thet Mon and Aung Pyae Sone have been sanctioned by the US and Canada.
In April, Min Aung Hlaing personally asked Thai authorities to drop his daughter’s name from the court case against Tun Min Latt.
Justice for Myanmar urged Thai authorities to seize the assets of Min Aung Hlaing’s daughter and son and investigate whether they benefited from the proceeds of crime, while blocking junta members, their families and enablers from accessing Thai banks and purchasing assets in Thailand.