Gold laundering plot linked to Min Aung Hlaing exposes Myanmar junta's crime web

A new investigation by Justice For Myanmar (JFM) has detailed a failed plot linked to Myanmar's military junta to launder 800 kg of gold, valued at approximately US$48 million, through Thailand, Laos and Hong Kong.

The scheme unfolded in the months following the military's attempted seizure of power in 2021, according to JFM. The rights group said the plot was coordinated by Khin Thiri Thet Mon, daughter of junta head Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

JFM said its findings were based on draft contracts, letters of intent and private messages it had reviewed. According to the report, the junta-linked network sought to sell the gold to a subsidiary of the Lao conglomerate AIF Group, with payments to be processed through the partially state-owned BIC Bank Lao.

Arms broker Tun Min Latt, described by JFM as a close associate of Min Aung Hlaing's family, acted as an intermediary alongside his business partner, then Thai senator Upakit Pachariyangkun. The pair reportedly routed the gold through a Thai company positioned as the deal's end seller on paper.

Communications reviewed by JFM referenced 200 kg of gold as having already been sold, though the group said it could not confirm whether any gold had in fact changed hands. The proposed transaction with AIF Group reportedly collapsed in mid-2021 amid disputes over financial guarantees and sequencing.

While the deal fell through, JFM said the case points to an ongoing transnational crime risk posed by the junta, its leadership, family members and associated business figures.

The group's earlier investigations have alleged that Min Aung Hlaing, his relatives and close associates are involved in money laundering and asset theft, including property purchases in Thailand, as well as profiting from the exploitation of Myanmar's gold resources through sanctioned military-linked businesses.

JFM said the junta sits at the centre of a broader web of transnational criminal activity, including cyber scams, human trafficking, money laundering and illegal gambling, which it says helps fund the military's continued campaign of war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Myanmar people.

The report follows a disputed election held by the junta in December 2025 and January 2026, which JFM said the military is using to seek false legitimacy. The group urged governments not to recognise the junta as Myanmar's legitimate government.

JFM spokesperson Yadanar Maung said the junta had been "terrorising the people of Myanmar for more than five years" and had intensified indiscriminate airstrikes, arbitrary arrests and torture since the election.

"This junta is a criminal cartel that is responsible for a surge of transnational criminal activities, including the attempted gold laundering plot we have documented," Yadanar Maung said.

Yadanar Maung called on Thailand and other regional governments to pursue accountability for the junta's alleged crimes, and urged the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada and Australia to expand targeted sanctions against the junta and its associates to restrict access to funds, weapons and aviation fuel.