Close To Aung San Suu Kyi, A Number Of Famous Myanmar Business Tycoons Are Interrogated By The Military

Aung San Suu Kyi. (Wikimedia Commons / Michał Józefaciuk)

JAKARTA - Since launching a coup on February 1, the Myanmar military has continued to arrest and investigate various parties related to or related to Aung San Suu Kyi and his National League for Democracy (NLD) Party.

Including a number of well-known business tycoons close to Aung San Suu Kyi. Among them U Zaw Zaw, U Chit Khaing and U Maung Weik were taken to an undisclosed location and interrogated for several hours.

U Zaw Zaw, chairman of the Max Myanmar Group, a large conglomerate in Myanmar, has been questioned three times since the military seized power on February 1, according to business sources in Yangon, according to The Irrawaddy.

U Chit Khaing, President of the Eden Group and one of the country's richest men, was also interrogated. The former member of the National League for Democracy was jailed in the 1990s.

U Maung Weik, a real estate developer, was also detained and briefly released. He was among the leading tycoons who made donations to fund the construction of the Eternal Peace Pagoda in Naypyitaw in 2019.

U Maung Weik is also close to the Chief Minister Yangon U Phyo Min Thein and Chief Minister Dr. Mandalay. Zaw Myint Maung. Military sources said the close relationship had raised suspicions of bribery.

All three worked with military regimes in the past and were under United States (US) sanctions at one point. The US lifted all sanctions in 2016 when the NLD came to power. They have reportedly been released by the Myanmar military and kept a low profile since their interrogation.

All of the businessmen are believed to have made donations to the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation, a charity organization founded by Aung San Suu Kyi in honor of his late mother, whose name was used as the foundation's name.

Military officials are currently investigating the charity's finances on suspicion of accepting donations from abroad. Senior foundation officials have been questioned.