As the illegal Myanmar military junta was intensifying its campaign of terror against the people in 2022, junta head Min Aung Hlaing’s son and daughter-in-law purchased a luxury property in Bangkok for 98 million Thai baht (almost US$3 million), Justice For Myanmar can reveal.

An analysis of Thai corporate records, land records, publicly available information and confidential sources shows that the property was sold by the Thai publicly listed developer Charn Issara Development Public Company Limited. The purchase was facilitated by Tun Min Latt, a Myanmar junta crony and close associate of Min Aung Hlaing’s family, in the months before his arrest in September 2022 on charges of money laundering, drug trafficking and organised crime and proceeded to completion even after he was in custody (he was acquitted in 2024).

Charn Issara’s contract for the property was made with Min Aung Hlaing’s daughter-in-law Myo Yadana Htaik. The purchase took place more than a year after Min Aung Hlaing’s son Aung Pyae Sone was sanctioned by the USA and Canada, and was likely negotiated with Myo Yadana Htaik’s name to bypass sanctions. To date, Myo Yadana Htaik has not been sanctioned in any jurisdiction, creating a sanctions loophole for Min Aung Hlaing’s family.

The luxury property is a house on the 451 square metre 7C land plot of Issara Residence Rama 9 that on paper is owned by Emerald Princess Co. Ltd., a company set up on December 1, 2022, a week before the property transfer. Justice For Myanmar assess that Emerald Princess is a proxy corporate entity for Aung Pyae Sone and his wife, Myo Yadana Htaik, established with the support of Charn Issara and with full knowledge that the initial intermediary in the purchase, Tun Min Latt, was in custody facing criminal charges. Charn Issara shielded the identities of the owners and their source of funds and provided a way for them to bypass Thai law prohibiting foreigners from owning land. This enabled Charn Issara to complete the sale after receiving payment in full.  

The current sole director of Emerald Princess is Krit Hongjanya, Executive Vice President on Sales and Marketing at Charn Issara and it is incorporated in the same building as Charn Issara’s headquarters, Issara Tower II. The company has three shareholders, all holding a minority stake. Suhat Polwattana, who holds 26%, also has a public profile linked to Charn Issara, having worked as the building manager of Charn Issara Tower 2 according to information from 2020, the most recent found. Polwattana was the founding director of Emerald Princess and held that position when the property was transferred. Information about the other two shareholders, Supawan Sinpanich (49%) and Thawat Wongkovit (25%) could not be found online, but Sinpanich’s registered address is in the vicinity of Charn Issara’s Pak Chong development, around 180km from Bangkok.

Emerald Princess does not have a public profile, is not listed among Charn Issara subsidiaries and has no financial statements on Thailand’s corporate registry. Emerald Princess is registered for wholesale trading under Thailand Standard Industrial Classification code 46109 rather than for buying or managing real estate. The company's stated objective of engaging in the import and export of raw materials, hardwood, minerals, gems, machinery, electrical equipment, and pharmaceuticals similarly do not match its actual activity of owning the Issara Residence Rama 9 property on paper.

When Charn Issara was inquired about plot 7C via a real estate agent, they responded that the development had sold out about two years ago.

Reliable sources confirm that Tun Min Latt directly negotiated the purchase of the property with Charn Issara on behalf of Aung Pyae Sone and Myo Yadana Htaik. Tun Min Latt was also involved in the transfer of funds to Charn Issara for the property, which were paid in instalments beginning in May 2022, when the 30% downpayment was made. Payments to Charn Issara were made through cash deposits and transfers involving at least three Thai banks: Siam Commercial Bank, Kasikorn Bank and Bangkok Bank.

Charn Issara appears to have known precisely who they were dealing with, gave Min Aung Hlaing’s family special treatment and involved senior management in the sale. In August 2022, Aung Pyae Sone and Myo Yadana Htaik visited the Charn Issara office in Bangkok where they met with Charn Issara’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Risk Management Committee, Songkran Issara, his son and director, Ditawat "Platu" Issara, then director (now managing director) Teeraporn Srijaroenwong, and then assistant managing director of sales and marketing (now executive vice president) Krit Hongjanya. The visit was facilitated by Tun Min Latt, who attended with his wife, Win Min Soe.

Aung Pyae Sone and Myo Yadana Htaik made the purchase with the assistance of Independence Law Office. The same month they visited Charn Issara in Bangkok, Myo Yadana Htaik transferred 74,000 baht to Independence Law Office through Kasikorn Bank.

While under the original arrangement, the payments were supposed to have been completed in September 2022, this appears to have been delayed by Tun Min Latt’s arrest that same month and the transfer was not completed until December.  

Justice For Myanmar shared these findings with Charn Issara and Independence Law Office, asked additional questions and provided them with an opportunity to respond. They did not reply.

Tun Min Latt and Win Min Soe: The Min Aung Hlaing family’s partners in crime

Issara Residence is not the first property purchase that Tun Min Latt facilitated for Min Aung Hlaing’s family. As previously revealed by Justice For Myanmar and Reuters, Aung Pyae Sone also owns a luxury apartment in the Belle Grand Rama 9 condominium, the title of which was found in Tun Min Latt’s possession when his own Belle Grand Rama 9 home was raided in September 2022. The police also seized two Siam Commercial Bank passbooks belonging to Min Aung Hlaing’s daughter, Khin Thiri Thet Mon.

Aung Pyae Sone’s 189 square metre duplex unit, at 131/999 Belle, was purchased with a transfer price of 20 million baht (US$581,000) in April 2017, the same year his father was committing genocide against the Rohingya. As with the Issara property, Tun Min Latt negotiated with the developer, Belle Development Company Limited, and was involved in making payments. Belle Development is a subsidiary of the Thai publicly listed developer, Grand Canal Land Public Company Limited (G Land).

An examination of land records confirm that Aung Pyae Sone’s condo has been frozen since September 2024 for non-payment of tax, but further action needs to be taken by Thai authorities to seize the condo.

Alongside Aung Pyae Sone, Tun Min Latt and Win Min Soe continue to own three condominium units in Belle, purchased between 2017 and 2021, following the military’s coup attempt: 131/755, purchased in May 2017 with a transfer prices of 28.2 million baht (US$818,000), 141/315, purchased in May 2019 with a transfer price of 25 million baht (US$786,000) and 131/754, purchased in April 2021 with a transfer price of 17.3 million baht (US$553,000). A fourth unit, 131/745, was purchased in 2013 and sold in December 2018 with a transfer price of 15.8 million baht (US$482,000).

In the case of payments for units 141/315 and 131/754 made to Belle Development Company Limited, Tun Min Latt used funds transferred to Thailand from UOB in Singapore, at least some of which was denominated in US dollars. This should be investigated by Singapore and US authorities for suspected money laundering and corruption.  

Justice For Myanmar wrote to Grand Canal with questions regarding our findings and offered them an opportunity to respond. They did not reply.

Tun Min Latt is a crony with a long track record of providing support to the Myanmar military, including brokering the supply of arms from China and Israel for which he also used bank accounts in Singapore. He is the son of former air force lieutenant colonel Khin Maung Latt, who was also director-general of the hotels and tourism ministry under the former junta. Tun Min Latt and Win Min Soe are owners of the crony Star Sapphire Group, which has deep business partnerships with the Myanmar military, including the quartermaster general’s office of the army and the military conglomerate, Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL).

One of their businesses, Allure Group, operates an illegal casino in Tachileik on the Myanmar side of the Golden Triangle through its Myanmar subsidiary, Myanmar Allure Group, in partnership since November 2017 with the Office of the Quartermaster General.

Another of their businesses, Star Thiri Investment, was a joint venture between Khin Thiri Thet Mon and Star Sapphire Group.

Star Sapphire Group of Companies was sanctioned by the UK in August 2022, during the Charn Issara purchase process, and by Canada, the EU and USA the following year. Tun Min Latt was sanctioned by the UK, Canada and USA in 2023, and Win Min Soe was sanctioned by Canada and the USA at the same time.

Since sanctions and Tun Min Latt’s arrest, the group has changed the name of some businesses in Myanmar and closed others, which may be an attempt to circumvent measures and continue their criminal activities. Changes include renaming Star Sapphire Company Limited to Shwe Ati Company Limited and renaming Star Sapphire Hotel Company Limited to Hotel Dawei Company Limited, which has a hotel development on land leased from the junta’s home affairs ministry.

Urgent action needed in response to Myanmar junta and crony property purchases and to close loopholes

High value property transactions by Min Aung Hlaing’s family and their cronies demonstrates serious failings of the Thai government, banks, developers and law firms to block their flow of illicit funds into Thailand and prevent their illegal purchases of property.

Charn Issara and Belle Development property purchases by Aung Pyae Sone and Myo Yadana Htaik proceeded despite sanctions, and despite the fact that Min Aung Hlaing is responsible for the commission of international crimes, including genocide against the Rohingya and, on February 1, 2021, launched an illegal coup attempt. In the case of Tun Min Latt, multiple property purchases were made from Belle Development despite the fact that he ran an illegal casino on Thailand’s northern border, was an arms broker with a close personal relationship with Min Aung Hlaing’s family, and made payments in cash that should have raised alarms for money laundering.

There are reasonable grounds to believe that the funds used to purchase the Charn Issara and Grand Canal Land/Belle Development properties derive from acts of corruption due to Min Aung Hlaing’s control over two military conglomerates that have engaged in widespread asset theft, and the fact he led a coup attempt in 2021 that involved the illegal seizure of state assets. Acts of corruption constitute a predicate offence under Section 3 of Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Act, even if committed overseas, and the law provides grounds for seizure by the state. Seizure of these properties are crucial to recover stolen assets and deter other junta members and their cronies from investing ill-gotten assets in Thailand.

As a party to the UN Convention Against Corruption, Thailand is bound by the fundamental principle that assets obtained through corruption should be returned to the country of origin. As such, assets seized should be withheld until there is a legitimate federal democratic government in Myanmar that they can be returned to.

The use of a nominee structure for the Charn Issara purchase, through Emerald Princess, circumvents Thailand’s prohibitions on foreign land ownership, and may amount to criminal offences under Section 113 of the Land Code Act and Section 36 of the Foreign Business Act. Justice For Myanmar urges Thai authorities to fully investigate Min Aung Hlaing and his family members, Tun Min Latt, Emerald Princess, Charn Issara and their management and use all powers under the relevant laws, including fines, prosecution and confiscation of assets.

These property purchases demonstrate the role that real estate firms, banks and other such gatekeepers to the Thai financial system need to play to prevent sanctioned individuals and entities and their enablers from engaging in money laundering and corruption. The Thai government must ensure measures are in place to block military junta members, their families and cronies from acquiring valuable assets in Thailand, including through enhanced due diligence checks for high value real estate transactions.

The Issara purchase also shows a loophole created by the failure of any country to sanction Myo Yadana Htaik. Justice For Myanmar calls for sanctions against Myo Yadana Htaik, as well as Min Aung Hlaing’s wife, Kyu Kyu Hla, who also remains unsanctioned in any jurisdiction. To be effective, sanctions need to be coordinated and cover whole networks.

It is more than five years since the Myanmar military’s brutal and illegal coup attempt, and the crisis caused by Min Aung Hlaing and his partners in crime has been prolonged by a lack of action at best, and complicity at worst, by regional governments. This has only worsened the dire situation Myanmar people face daily.

Yet despite the odds, the Myanmar people continue to resist a brutal junta with immense courage and determination. Action to block the junta’s access to funds, arms, equipment and aviation fuel is needed now more than ever, as the Myanmar people enter a sixth year of resistance. The Myanmar military cartel must be dismantled.