Property is, without doubt, one of the preferred tools for laundering the proceeds of crime. Where better to hide the bribe money given by the fixer of a foreign arms company, or the hoards of cash made selling off a state enterprise or historical artefact you did not pay tax on than in the construction of a brand new 14 storey condominium slap bang in the heart of a developing capital city?
From Investine.com
Myanmar‘s capital Yangon is undergoing a property boom, and the Financial Intelligence Unit, part of the Ministry of Home Affairs, is working to identify and stem the flow of dirty money into the real estate sector.
Legally, property companies are not required by law to report suspicious transactions to the FIU, however the government is encouraging them to report any transaction worth more than K100m (Kyat) (USD102,000) for investigation. New money laundering regulations scheduled to pass in the Burmese parliament in October will make suspicious transaction reporting mandatory for more business sectors.
The move comes hot on the heels of a report in the China Securities Journal, claiming that K31.7tr (USD32.5bn) in illegal foreign currency investment was flowing into Myanmar from China annually.
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