Irrawaddy-Apr 4
Myanmar junta’s deputy defense minister, Major General Aung Lin Tun, is being investigated over alleged involvement in online scam operations near the Chinese border in northern Shan State. Maj-Gen Aung Lin Tun, who is the highest-ranking junta member to be investigated on the issue, was reportedly interrogated in late March. A source told The Irrawaddy: “It appears that he had contact with telecom scam leaders while he was vice quartermaster-general and helped them launder money.” As vice quartermaster-general he could award military contracts to scam chiefs for money laundering. Aung Lin Tun allegedly had ties to Bai Suocheng, the former chair of the military-backed Kokang Special Administrative Zone in northern Shan State, who was arrested by the junta and transferred to China in January. He was accused of accepting bribes from Bai, who was a former lawmaker from the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Beijing has pushed the junta since last year to crack down on the scam syndicates operating along its border. Analysts believe the that junta’s weak response to the issue infuriated China to such the extent that Beijing gave the Brotherhood Alliance the green light to launch the devastating Operation 1027 across northern Shan State in late October last year. The regime has handed over 352 Chinese citizens allegedly involved in scam operations in the border town of Muse to China. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-deputy-defense-minister-interrogated-over-online-scams.html
