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A new Justice For Myanmar investigation has revealed a failed junta-linked plot to launder 800 kg of gold, valued at approximately US$48 million, through Thailand, Laos and Hong Kong in the months following the Myanmar military’s illegal coup attempt.
The plot was coordinated by Khin Thiri Thet Mon, the daughter of junta head Min Aung Hlaing.
The findings are based on draft contracts, letters of intent and private messages seen by Justice For Myanmar.
The junta network sought to sell the gold to a subsidiary of the Lao conglomerate, AIF Group and to process the payments through the partially state-owned bank, BIC Bank Lao.
The arms broker and close associate of Min Aung Hlaing’s family, Tun Min Latt, acted as an intermediary together with his business partner, the then Thai senator Upakit Pachariyangkun, routing the gold through a Thai company as the end seller on paper.
In the communications, reference is made to 200 kg of gold having already been sold, although Justice For Myanmar could not confirm if gold has indeed changed hands.
The proposed deal with AIF Group collapsed mid-2021 over disagreements regarding financial guarantees and sequencing.
While the plot failed, there is a continued transnational crime risk from the junta, its leaders, family members and cronies.
As found in Justice For Myanmar’s latest report and earlier investigations, Min Aung Hlaing, his family members and close associates are directly involved in money laundering and asset theft, including through property purchases in Thailand. Min Aung Hlaing also enriches himself from the exploitation of Myanmar’s gold carried out by sanctioned military businesses.
Institutionally, the junta sits at the centre of a web of transnational criminal activities that include cyber scams, human trafficking, money laundering and illegal gambling. These criminal activities fuel the junta’s ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Myanmar people and threaten the security of countries in the region.
Justice For Myanmar calls for coordinated and targeted sanctions against the junta and its cronies to block their access to funds, arms and aviation fuel, and for full accountability for the commission of international and transnational crimes.
Following a sham election orchestrated by Min Aung Hlaing in December 2025 and January 2026, the junta is falsely seeking legitimacy, which would only embolden its continued transnational and international criminal activities. Justice For Myanmar calls on governments to not recognise the junta as the government and stand with the people of Myanmar, who have courageously rejected the junta for over five years.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: "Min Aung Hlaing and his illegal military junta have been terrorising the people of Myanmar for more than five years.
"Since the sham election, the junta has intensified indiscriminate airstrikes and continued its campaign of arbitrary arrests and torture, committing international crimes with total impunity.
"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.
"The junta’s ongoing criminal activities demonstrate once again that the junta is not a government and must not be awarded false legitimacy.
"Instead, we demand that Thailand and other governments in the region ensure accountability for the junta’s crimes.
"The USA, UK, EU, Canada and Australia must urgently expand targeted sanctions on the junta and its cronies to block access to funds, arms and aviation fuel and support the Myanmar people’s struggle for federal democracy."
