UDP Leader Involved in Drugs, Money Laundering, Says Ex-agent

By WAI MOE

The leader of a Burmese political party has again been tied to drug dealing and money laundering by a former official in Burma’s military intelligence, in a Voice of America (VOA) Burmese program on Sunday.

Maj Aung Linn Htut, a former intelligence officer who currently lives in the United States, said during a VOA interview that Kyaw Myint, also known as Michael Hua Hu, the executive vice chairman of the United Democratic Party of Myanmar (UDP), that the allegations took place when Kyaw Myint was a leader of the United Wa State Army’s (UWSA) treasury department in the 1990s. Kyaw Myint now lives in Canada.

He said Kyaw Myint ran a company, Myanmar Kyone Yeom, which was involved in money laundering in the 1990s. The former agent said the Wa political faction backed at least four commercial banks in Burma at the time.

Asiaweek magazine reported in January 1998 that Myanmar Kyone Yeom was accused of acting as a “money-washing machine” for the UWSA.

The company was blacklisted by the Burmese regime because “Michael Hua Hu (a.k.a. Col Kyaw Myint), who claimed to be a deputy minister of finance for the UWSA, openly and brazenly flouted Burmese business laws and regulations,” Jane’s Intelligence Review reported in November 1998.

After the ouster of Burmese intelligence chief Gen Khin Nyunt in October 2004, Aung Linn Htut sought political asylum in the US while he served at the Burmese embassy in Washington DC.

The former agent said complaints leveled by Brig-Gen Maung Maung, the secretary of the Myanmar Investment Commission, led to a 10-year prison sentence in Burma against Kyaw Myint.

“Actually, he is a fugitive [in Burma] because he broke jail when he was serving his prison term at a labor camp and escaped to Thailand,” Aung Linn Htut said in the radio interview.

Kyaw Myint came into the spotlight in Canada recently when trading in Future Canada China Environment Inc. was halted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in late January, when the value of the company’s stock rose rapidly to more than US $1 billion.

The price jumped on the strength of a proposed merger with a company that appears to be connected to Michael Hua Hu [Kyaw Myint], according to a report in The Vancouver Sun newspaper.

“The commission temporarily suspended trading in the securities of Future Canada China Environment Inc. because questions have arisen concerning recent trading activities in the company’s stock during which its share price increased from US $ 0.92 to US $ 28.50,” the US Securities and Exchange Commission announced on January 28.

The commission cautioned brokers, dealers, shareholders and prospective purchasers that they should carefully consider the foregoing information along with all other currently available information and any information subsequently issued by the company.

“The company has negligible assets and no operating business. Its stock price ostensibly jumped on strength of a proposed merger with a company that appears to be connected to Michael Hua Hu, a former Burmese businessman now living in Vancouver,” The Vancouver Sun reported on February 4.

It said that with 38 million shares outstanding, the company had a total stock market value of US $1.1 billion.

“That's quite a premium to the company's book value, which was negative $55,000 at last count,” the newspaper said.

According to The Vancouver Sun, Kyaw Myint is also involved in NAH Development Group Inc., a company based in Canada.

Kyaw Myint denied allegations of drug dealing and money laundering in a statement responding to an article published in The Irrawaddy in late December. “I, U Kyaw Myint, have never conducted or been involved in the illegal drug business or money laundering business in my life,” said the statement, published on his Web site.

Kyaw Myint said in the statement, “All my businesses in North America and Asia are legal.”

Recently, Kyaw Myint has sought to play a role in the 2010 Burmese elections by forming the UDP in Burma.

In late January, a party statement said that Thu Wai, a veteran politician, and Ye Tun, a well-known businessman, in Rangoon, were named chairman and vice chairman.

Burmese exiles say Kyaw Myint is the financial backer of the party, and he wants to attract prominent politicians to the party.

The UDP stirred up a minor controversy when Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, the daughter of former minister Kyaw Nyein, publicly denied she had any role in the party.

Htun Aung Gyaw, a former Burmese student leader, also denied reports he was involved in the party.

Aung Linn Htut told VOA that he believed Kyaw Myint wanted to play a significant role in politics in the 2010 election and perhaps gain an amnesty from the Burmese military government.