Former Burma minister denies embezzlement of $100 million gem fund
4th June 2016
BURMA’S former mines minister has denied that high-ranking members of the previous government siphoned money from a €93 million ($104 million) account as alleged by the Gems and Jewellery Entrepeneurs Association.
Only €7 million ($8 million) was reportedly left in the account when the new civilian government under Burma de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi took over in March.
The gems association is demanding an explanation on the money’s disappearance, saying the account was funded by a 1 percent tax on official gems sales.
The mines minister of the previous government, U Myint Aung, flatly denied any wrongdoing this week.
“The money was used for environmental conservation and regional development projects,” he said, according to the Myanmar Times.
U Kyaw Kyaw Oo, an executive member of the gems association, said the official complaint filed in May implicates a number of ex-government officials, former President U Thein Sein and ex-minister for the President’s Office U Soe Thein.
Defending his former bosses, U Myint Aung said, “In the complaint letter there are accusations that the money went missing because of graft. There was no graft.”
The former minister acknowledged that a total of €12 million from the account were allocated to projects under U Thein Sein and U Soe Thein’s management, but explained that the gems body approved these initiatives as corporate social responsibility projects.
Frequently the subject of controversy, Burma’s (Myanmar’s) gems industry’s profits are widely believed to be abused to enrich the military and political elite.
