The crony who will control Telenor Myanmar’s customer data

As Norwegian telecoms company Telenor prepares to exit Myanmar, there is growing concern that the move will expose the data of its more than 18m customers in the country to the brutal regime that seized power last year. Given that control of Telenor Myanmar may soon be in the hands of Thein Win Zaw, a man with a long and lucrative business relationship with the military, these fears appear to be well-founded. Thein Win Zaw is the 59-year-old founder of Shwe Byain Phyu (SBP), the company that is set to take over Telenor’s Myanmar subsidiary in partnership with M1 Group, a Lebanon-based investment firm. It was more than 25 years ago, when another, equally repressive junta was ruling Myanmar, that he began working with the country’s generals, building a fortune that continued to grow during the decade-long “democratic transition” that came to an abrupt end last February. Not long after M1 Group—which is closely linked to the authoritarian governments of Sudan, Syria and Yemen—registered a subsidiary in Singapore as a step towards entering Myanmar’s telecoms market, SBP followed suit by creating Shwe Byain Phyu Telecoms. According to internal communications between the junta’s Post and Telecommunications Department and Telenor seen by Myanmar Now, the two companies are currently negotiating the terms of their shared ownership of Telenor Myanmar. Media reports and documents obtained by Myanmar Now indicate that once M1 Group has completed its purchase of the company, SBP will buy up to 80% of its shares, putting Thein Win Zaw in a position to hand over any customer data demanded by the regime. It is extremely likely that he will be more than willing to do so. He and his immediate family—his wife Tin Latt Min, son Win Paing Kyaw, and daughter Theint Win Htet—own more than 20 companies between them, and they all depend heavily on the favour of the regime for their continued existence. SBP is best known for its chain of petrol stations, but Thein Win Zaw and family are also involved in a host of other enterprises, including jade mining, the import of ammonium nitrate as an explosive used in mining, the timber industry, plastic bag production, and the export of sugar and pulses, among others. Together, all of these business interests have earned Thein Win Zaw the honour of being named one of Myanmar’s top 10 taxpayers. Despite this, however, there is abundant evidence to suggest that much of his wealth has never been taxed, because it comes from illicit sources. Jade mining Like other military cronies in Myanmar, Thein Win Zaw has profited greatly from his involvement in extractive industries. Under the dictatorship that held power until 2010, two of his companies—SBP and Win Paing Kyaw, named after his son—received licences to mine in six jade fields, according to a report by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. He is also the chair of the Myanmar Gems and Jewellery Entrepreneurs Association (Yangon). According to a source close to SBP, only around a third of the jade that the company sold went through official channels, while the rest was shipped directly to China. This process was facilitated by companies owned by military-backed militias based in Kachin State, the source said. “They illegally exported raw jade to Guangzhou to be processed and sold. The profits were then sent back to Myanmar,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Financial records obtained by Myanmar Now show that in 2017, SBP paid Yadanar San Shwin, a company operated by a border guard force in Kachin State’s Hpakant Township, 3 billion kyat ($1.69 million) for transport services. Other internal documents show that SBP’s income from jade exports rose from 3 billion kyat in 2016 to 16 billion kyat ($9 million) in 2017 and more than 25 billion kyat ($14 million) in 2018. These figures are far in excess of those submitted to the government, which are in the tens of millions, not billions, of kyat. According to the source, Thein Win Zaw has his own facility in Guangzhou to process the jade that he sends there. He also has an agent in the Chinese city named Shan Lay (also known as Nay Min Tun), as well as another trusted associate named Thant Zin Tun, who handles the export of the jade. “They’ve made huge profits from this trade, which they launder through their petrol business. That’s how they manage to avoid paying taxes,” said the source. Most of this money, which is denominated in Chinese yuan, is transferred through money changers in Mandalay to company-owned bank accounts in Yangon, although sometimes it is collected in cash by an agent, the source added. In addition to money made directly from the sale of jade, SBP also brings in hundreds of millions of kyat each month by importing and selling ammonium nitrate to other mining companies, he said. Of course, the company also has expenses. According to internal financial records from the years 2015 to 2018 seen by Myanmar Now, these include payments made to the heads of various government departments in Naypyitaw, entered under the heading “paying respect.” When Myanmar Now contacted Thein Win Zaw for comment regarding this information, he simply said that his licence to mine jade in Hpakant had expired in 2018. Asked about his relationship with the military, he declined to say anything. He also said he couldn’t discuss his plans to acquire a controlling interest in Telenor Myanmar because his company was still in negotiations with M1 Group. An SBP petrol station Oil and gas Thein Win Zaw’s first company, Manaw Thitar, was founded in 1996, during the rule of former dictator Than Shwe. Four years later, he established SBP and began an oil import business in cooperation with Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd, a military-owned conglomerate that dominates key sectors of Myanmar’s economy. After Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in May 2008, Thein Win Zaw was granted permission to bring oil into the country without going through official channels. This state-sanctioned smuggling, carried out through ports in Mon State and Tanintharyi Region, enabled him to invest in other sectors, according to the source familiar with SBP’s business operations. “After Nargis, they let him smuggle oil into the country. And it was after that, in the 2010s, that he went into the gemstone business,” he said. It was also at this time that he began to establish close relations with senior leaders of Myanmar’s navy, which reportedly provided security for his fuel-smuggling ships. This would later prove relevant to his bid for control of Telenor Myanmar. Admiral Tin Aung San, who stepped down as commander-in-chief of the navy after joining the military council formed in the wake of last year’s coup, currently serves as the junta’s minister of transport and communications. In this capacity, he is said to have backed Thein Zaw Win, with whom he had dealings in his previous position, in his efforts to take over Telenor’s Myanmar operations. But Thein Win Zaw’s ties to the navy have also proven to be a stumbling block to his ambitions. Tin Aung San’s successor as navy commander-in-chief, Admiral Moe Aung, is the brother of Nay Aung, the owner of IGE, another company that has shown an interest in buying Telenor Myanmar. (IGE was one of four companies—two state-owned and two private—that were sanctioned by the EU in late January.) The oil and gas business remains, however, the focus of SBP’s operations. In 2010, the company received another boost when it purchased 16 state-owned petrol stations from the Myanmar Petroleum Products Enterprise as part of a sell-off of state assets ahead of a transition to quasi-civilian rule orchestrated by the former junta. (All of the 261 petrol stations sold at the time went to military cronies for undisclosed amounts. Official figures released three years later, however, revealed that only 9.2 billion kyat—around $5 million—had been raised from the sale of the petrol stations, meaning that they were sold, on average, for around 35 million kyat, or less than $20,000, each.) SBP has since opened 13 more petrol stations, in addition to the 16 it purchased in 2010. According to the company’s website, it planned to have 70 in all by 2021. Myanmar Now was unable to confirm if it had reached this goal. The company’s oil and gas business has also been controversial for other reasons. SBP petrol stations have been accused of operating with a complete disregard for fire hazards by residents of Pauk Khaung in Bago Region and Mongmit in Shan State. And in 2014, five residents of Thet Kel Kwin, a village in Yangon’s Dala Township, were arrested after SBP accused them of “stealing” diesel fuel that had leaked into the water from a company-owned ship Tin Latt Min (left) and Thein Win Zaw (Facebook) Thein Win Zaw and family (Facebook) Close relations with army generals In addition to his navy connections, Thein Win Zaw also has close ties to a number of top generals. Among the names linked to him are retired Major Aung Naing, the former head of the previous regime’s energy department; retired Major General Maung Oo, who was Than Shwe’s home affairs minister; retired Major General Tha Aye, who was chief minister of Sagaing Region under Than Shwe; former General Myint Swe, the military-appointed vice president who was installed as president during last year’s coup; and retired General Thein Aung, who was chief minister Ayeyarwady Region during the quasi-civilian administration of former General Thein Sein. Financial records seen by Myanmar Now show that Aung Naing and Maung Oo have both received thousands of dollars a month from SBP. Tha Aye, meanwhile, appears to be connected to Thein Win Zaw through his wife, Tin Latt Min, whose mother was the former general’s teacher. (Tin Latt Min is also close to the wives of several generals, including Than Than Nwe, the wife of General Soe Win, the vice chair of the current junta and deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Than Than Nwe is chair of the Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation, to which Tin Latt Min has made donations.) Thein Zaw Win was said to be especially close to Myint Swe when he was chief minister of Yangon Region under Thein Sein from 2011 to 2016. According to our source, the businessman was a frequent visitor to the chief minister’s home, “bringing gifts such as meat and fish.” But Thein Zaw Win’s closest military contact appears to be Thein Aung, the father of Naypyitaw regional commander and Min Aung Hlaing protégé Major General Zaw Hein. Thein Win Zaw’s relationship with Thein Aung dates back to the ex-general’s days as forestry minister under the previous military regime. According to our source, Thein Aung helped Thein Win Zaw’s family acquire thousands of acres of forest in Bago Region’s Minhla Township for their logging business. Evidence of donations made by Thein Zaw Win during a trip to Thein Aung’s hometown of Ingapu in Ayeyarwady Region Thein Win Zaw and his wife, Tin Latt Min Thein Zaw Win has accompanied Thein Aung on trips to his hometown of Ingapu in Ayeyarwady Region as part of a regional development program. In 2012, state media reported that he donated computers and ambulances during these trips, and according to SBP’s website, the company also sponsored a 50-bed hospital in the town, which Thein Aung represented as a candidate of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. Besides helping him with his business interests, Thein Aung also came to Thein Zaw Win’s aid when he was facing legal action for a fatal accident that he got involved in while on his way to a golf course. “A young woman fell to her death. There were lawsuits going on, and Thein Aung paid the compensation fees for him,” said our source, who is a former SBP employee. According to the source, Thein Aung receives 2 million kyat from SBP every month, which is recorded under the heading “interest payments” in the company’s internal financial records Other businesses and assets According to the SBP website, the company has six subsidiaries and more than 2,000 employees. However, Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) records and data collected by Myanmar Now show that Thein Zaw Win is director of more than 20 companies owned by himself or members of his family. His daughter, Theint Win Htet, owns a company that produces plastic bags under the brand name Thein Kabar. Founded in 2009, the company produces up to 100,000 plastic bags per day, according to its website. The Win Paing Kyaw company, named after Thein Win Zaw’s son, exports 6,000 tons of pulses and up to 10,000 tons of sugar to China and India every year. The company’s assets include several processing and storage facilities. In addition to Shwe Byain Phyu Telecoms, Thein Win Zaw also registered another telecoms company, One Telecom, last November, according to DICA records. The entire family was initially listed as being on One Telecom’s board of directors, but a month after the company was registered, Thein Win Zaw withdrew his own name. A list of companies belonging to Thein Win Zaw and his family (Myanmar Now). Ref: Directorate of Investment and Company Administration Thein Win Zaw was also the director of the Maha Yoma Public Co Ltd, which has stakes in the junta-owned Mytel telecoms company. However, at the height of the controversy surrounding the sale of Telenor Myanmar in November, he withdrew from his position as Maha Yoma’s director. Thein Win Zaw is also vice chair of the Myanmar Energy Sector Development Public Co Ltd (MESDP), whose chair is Dr. Win Myint, the owner of the Myat Myittar Mon Oil company. MESDP is a consortium that brings together many of Myanmar’s top business tycoons. Myanmar Now’s source claimed that Thein Win Zaw and his wife Tin Latt Min aslo have stakes in the Global Treasure Bank and the Mining Development Bank. However, this could not be independently confirmed. Evidence of the sale of a state-owned factory compound to Thein Zaw Win According to internal financial documents seen by Myanmar Now, Thein Win Zaw’s assets include high-value real estate properties in Yangon and other parts of the country. “They have so many houses. There’s one on Oak Kyin Street [in Yangon’s Hlaing Township] that they bought for a billion kyat [$562,000] and another on Inya Road. The headquarters of their company is at 16 Shwe Taung Kyar Street in Yangon, right next to the Australian ambassador’s residence,” the former SBP employee said. A lease seen by Myanmar Now shows that in 2017, Thein Zaw Win also received $47,500 a month from a Hong Kong-based company called PC Myanmar for the rental of another property in Bahan Township’s Shwe Taung Kyar area, which caters to wealthy foreigners and the local elite. In 2014, SBP purchased a three-acre plot of land in Insein Township previously used by a state-owned machinery factory. The company paid 200 million kyat ($110,000) for the property, records showed https://myanmar-now.org/en/?p=10566

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