In Yangon, under the guise of a "Chae Phan Operation," the military, police, Pyu Saw Htee, and administrative bodies are raiding and extorting businesses, homes, and condominiums of Myanmar-born Chinese entrepreneurs

Yangon, June 7 Following a report by Yangon Khit Thit News Agency about the spread of Chinese online money laundering (Chae Phan) operations in condominiums and housing estates across Yangon, the military, police, Pyu Saw Htee, and administrative bodies have begun raiding and extorting businesses and residences of Myanmar-born Chinese entrepreneurs, according to a business source who is being extorted, speaking to Yangon Khit Thit News Agency. It is understood that the terrorist military is not entering and searching the Chae Phan operations of Chinese individuals holding Myanmar national registration cards who are actually engaged in Chae Phan activities. Instead, they are raiding some of the legitimate businesses of Myanmar-born Chinese citizens under the pretext of Chae Phan, arresting and interrogating hundreds of innocent young employees, and engaging in extortion. Around 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM on June 5, a high-rise building near the project landmark on Thanthumar Road in South Okkalapa Township was raided and searched under the title of Chae Phan, led by the commander of the Yangon Regional Military Command himself. However, it was learned that the business was not an online Chae Phan money laundering operation, but an online shopping business that takes orders and purchases goods from China for Myanmar. It was also learned that hundreds of young Myanmar people were employed in this business, but the business did not have a legal license. It was learned that hundreds of young Myanmar people were working in this business, divided into day and night shifts, and that most of the young people were students and those under 20 years of age. "The main thing I want to say is that we are worried that the children working in that business will be taken away as Chae Phan operators. After the military raided that building, they sent hundreds of young people to the interrogation center in 3 prison trucks at once. Their parents did not have time to speak or explain," a parent of one of the arrested youths told Yangon Khit Thit News Agency. Currently, the parents of the arrested youths are extremely concerned because their children were immediately sent to the interrogation center without even being given a chance to explain that they were not involved in Chae Phan operations. Similarly, searches and investigations for Chae Phan operations within housing estates and condominiums in Yangon have been carried out systematically since June 5. It is understood that the commander of the Yangon Regional Military Command has issued a special directive ordering local military units, township police, ward/village administrative bodies, and Pyu Saw Htee to search for and arrest Chae Phan operators as part of the Chae Phan operation. However, in reality, instead of searching for and arresting actual Chae Phan money laundering operations, the military, police, and administrative bodies on the ground are investigating Chinese Chae Phan operations, Chinese KTVs, and clubs, and collecting protection money. Chinese Chae Phan operations based in Yangon are not only defrauding money within Myanmar but also abroad, using various methods such as obtaining bank account and personal information for extortion, distributing slot games that require deposits, and employing teenage girls from Myanmar to provide sexual entertainment services online. According to a Myanmar youth who previously worked in a Chae Phan operation, the illicit funds obtained from Chae Phan are transferred to Myanmar banks through Chinese-owned restaurants, barber shops, car showrooms, hotels, Chinese and Korean language schools, and healthcare centers, and are then laundered back into Chinese bank accounts. "The place where they make money, the place of business, is separate. The place where they launder money is separate. For example, if one Chinese Chae Phan is caught, it's not over. What they are laundering their money through are the restaurants, barber shops, car showrooms, hotel businesses, Korean and Chinese language schools, and healthcare centers they have opened for show. They are all owned by Chinese people. Those businesses transfer the money obtained from Chae Phan. From there, it reaches Myanmar banks. From there, it returns as clean money to Chinese bank accounts. If investigated, all those businesses must be investigated. How much profit are they making, how are they paying taxes? If an audit is conducted, everything will be revealed. What are these people doing in places where the economy is not good?