Among the 11 Kokang businessmen arrested in China last week are among Myanmar's richest top bosses, including a little-known tycoon.
A Kokant businessman named U Maung Maung is the richest man in Lauk Kai who runs Full Light Company with his brother.
According to a BBC investigation, Fulbright conglomerates have invested billions of dollars in at least 36 different types of businesses, and their wealth is unfathomable.
Now, there is no information about where he is being held until a week after he was arrested in Chinese territory on the side of Laok Kai.
Fully Light Empire
Before talking about U Maung Maung, it is possible to estimate their strength by talking about the Fulli Laid Group, which he jointly owns with his brother.
If we talk about Kokant businessmen in Myanmar, the Asia World Group owned by U Los Sihan's children is the most well-known, while the Phuli Lai Group is less well-known.
Established in 1992, Fuli Laid Corporation is a housing project, Hotel and travel, agriculture, Even though they show a variety of trading activities, their main stream of income is the casino business.
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| A map of the business presence of Fulid Group |
But if you look at their work in urban housing projects and port operations, you can imagine their wealth.
Phuli Laid's headquarters is located in a five-star sky-high hotel in Lauk Kai, a mountainous region near the Myanmar-China border.
The Liao family, which owns the Fuli Laid Group, controls their businesses throughout Myanmar and some regional countries from that building.
A large center called Kokang World has been developed near Mokhang Hotel, with 18 commercial buildings and 167 shops.
A leisure housing project named "Tonghu St. Jing" is being developed in front of the Fuli Lai headquarters, and two thousand yuan has been invested.
Fuli is behind the Water Falls urban housing project in Mandalay, which has invested up to 720 million US dollars.
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| The design of a park included in the Waterfall project |
The housing project, which is attached to a golf course with up to 36 holes, is invested in the name of the new development company.
The waterfall mountain urban housing project was designed by a French company and built by China State Construction Engineering Corporation CSCEC, a large Chinese construction company.
In addition, Fuli Laid is also cooperating with some companies in a port construction project that will allow liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships to dock at Kyauk Phyu Made Island in Rakhine State.
Fuli Laid has opened a mining company in Phakant under the name of New Development, and under the name of Irrawaddy Partner Trading, Phakant imports 22-wheel trucks used in jade mining companies and large trucks that can load up to 80 tons from China.
In addition, Fuli Laid has purchased a coal mining company in Sagaing.
In the town of Myawati on the Thai-Myanmar border, the Myawati Oriental Company is also located, and Phuli Laid's arm is stretched.
Fuli Lai has expanded to China and Cambodia and has opened company offices.
In Cambodia, there is a travel agency called Best Day, and GOBO East Entertainment, located in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, is also owned by Phulilai.
In 2019, Phu Li Lai won the Green Tourism Award, which was awarded by the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen himself.
Fulai is rubber, sugar cane Melons and cucumbers are also planted and exported to China.
According to the company's income list, several million dollars have come in from these agricultural activities.
In the Kokang region, they are also engaged in water supply and electricity distribution, and also own gas stations.
Last May, at the Myanmar (Nay Pyi Taw)-China (Lin Chan) trade fair in Nay Pyi Taw, Fulli Laid showcased their company's 8 sectors, including the businesses mentioned above.
Brother Liao
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| U Lee Kyein Chan, Chairman of Full Laid Group (b) Lyo Da Pho |
The chairman of Fulli Laid Group, which distributes numerous businesses under many names, is U Lee Kyein Chan (b) Lyo Thap, and U Maung Maung is Lyo Thap's half-brother.
Although U Maung Maung has a Kokang name, he is not well known and mainly uses Burmese names.
Even in the titles and honors he received, he did not use the name Kokang like his brother, but instead used the name U Maung Maung.
Fuli Lai donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to successive governments, and both the Liao brothers received titles and honors from the NLD government to the Military Council.
The leader of the coup d'état, General Min Aung Hlaing himself, awarded Brother Liao with the highest title awarded to individuals, the title of 'Agma Mahathiri Sudhaman Manizotara'.
Of the two Liao brothers, U Maung Maung speaks Burmese more fluently than his older brother.
Their brothers are known for being quiet and generous.
"Their brother is close to almost all the adults, both military and civilian," a military official told the BBC.
During the NLD government, their brothers were the ones who used to go in and out of the houses of government ministers and the prime minister, including the house of the National Assembly Speaker Mann Win Khaing Than.
Especially the areas where they have businesses, such as Shan State Chief Minister, They are people who are going in and out of the offices and homes of the Mandalay and Sagaing Chief Ministers.
Looking at the political side, U Maung Maung is the member of the Khon Khoo Township of the Fitness Party. Currently, he is also a member of the Khon Khyoh Township Management Committee.
However, U Maung Maung does not live in the mountainous area where the Kokang Army (MNDAA) is fighting with the army, but lives in Lauk Kai town.
Their brothers go out in a convoy with full security.
The Kokang brothers, who are close to the military, have armored vehicles ordered from Japan for their security.
Casino king full spread tiger?
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| GOBO East Entertainment at Thihanu Beach owned by Fuli Lait |
The casinos opened in Phu Li Lai's skyscraper hotel have ten thousand yuan in winnings and losses, so Chinese rich people come to play while Burmese people can't come.
Fuli Laid Company benefited from the casino business and became rich faster than other gambling circles in Lauk Kai.
The poker that Fuli Laid uses in his gambling circles. Drinking water and cigarettes are manufactured under our own brand.
Their main customers are Chinese gamblers who used to cross over from China to Myanmar to play before the Covid-19 epidemic.
Fuli Lai has expanded his gambling empire to Thi Hanu Beach in Cambodia, with direct flights to more than 20 cities in China.
GOBO East Entertainment on Thihanu Beach, owned by Fuli Lai, is one of the largest casinos in the port.
Later, Fuli Laid expanded so that gambling can be played anywhere with internet access without having to come to the casino.
Therefore, according to Chinese intelligence reports from Lao Kai and his side in Nanshan, China, Fu Li Lai, who is related to gambling, has been on the watch list of the Chinese police since before the online money fraud (tiger spread) business became widespread.
Online money scams, also known as scams, are money scams where people are tricked into investing in a game or website that trades shares with online currencies such as Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin.
Tiger spread means 'tiger' in the Chinese language and 'spread' lies.
Chinese money laundering gangs that have a foothold in China and neighboring countries, including Myanmar, target overseas Chinese through the Internet.
panther Lauk Kai and local citizens are forced into online money laundering
When tiger spreading business became popular on the Myanmar-China border, many tiger spreading businesses appeared in the Tongchang area, where Phuli Laid's headquarters are located.
``Fuli Lai was the richest man at the time, so China suspects that the Tigers are hiding in the shadow of Fuli Lai,'' a Kokang businessman close to Chinese intelligence reports told the BBC.
Therefore, among the 11 businessmen arrested on October 1, Phuli Lai is among three.
When asked by the BBC whether FulliLide is engaged in gambling, the company's official answer is that it does not engage in gambling, but only as a casino.
''You can be examined at any time. Even a fly cannot enter the place where the tiger spreads. A completely separate world. Our hotel can be accessed 24 hours a day,'' said an official of Fuli Laid.
However, in 2022, the BBC asked about a video of a man being beaten around the premises of the Full-Lite company, which was reported by the tiger distribution industry as torture.
''It's not spread. The employee was punished for playing cards with an outsider,'' said the official above.
Of the 11 people arrested by China, the largest number was the Heinli Group, another casino operator, with 6 people, according to the BBC's investigation.
An official told the BBC that the Heinli Group is a group that is legally registered with the Burmese government and does not spread tigers.
China's sensitive issue
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| 377 Chinese nationals were transferred to the Chinese police by Kokang on October 7 |
Both Fuli Lai and Heinli have investigated all their contacts from Nay Pyi Taw to Kunming in China, but there is no information about those who have been arrested.
The BBC has learned that U Maung Maung, who is the richest of the 11 businessmen arrested, from Phuli Lay Company, is an acquaintance of the military leader, General Min Aung Hlaing.
The concerned family members investigated the news of the arrestees all the way to the Yunnan police headquarters, but they ended up saying, ``The matter is handled by the center (Beijing)''.
China Yunnan Province Kokang businessmen are criticizing the incident on October 1 when they were arrested after being officially invited by the Kyungkham Chamber of Commerce for a trade fair held in Kyeongkham District.
Chinese police arrested 11 Kokang entrepreneurs
Those who went on the trip said that they were unexpectedly arrested while visiting this invitation, which included a trade fair and a traditional Kokang mountain singing competition.
``Now, the Kokang have even defined the word 'Susose' as 'man-hunting','' a Kokang ethnic youth entrepreneur told the BBC.
Chinese police arrested 11 people from a delegation of more than 70 people, including Kokang businessmen, in the early morning of October 1 at the hotel where they were staying.
``When I was sleeping, I broke down the doors and entered at around 3 in the morning. The police know exactly who sleeps in which room,'' said one of the passengers.
Among the 11 people arrested was a disabled person who was carried away by four Chinese policemen, a person who took part in the trip recalled.
Although Kokang Autonomous Region Chairman U Myint Swe and Secretary U Moe Zaw Lat participated in the trip, criticism is rising in Lauk Kai town as to whether the Myanmar nationals should leave the arrest and return.
Although China has not officially disclosed the reason for the arrest of Kokang's richest family members, it is widely speculated that it may be related to online fraud (propaganda) operations.
Businessmen in Yangon, close to the Chinese embassy, are also watching with interest the case of the arrest of 11 Kokant businessmen.
Businessmen consider that this arrest is China's clear pressure to completely stop the distribution of tigers in Laok Kai.
''They (China) asked me to capture the exact map of the place where the tiger spreading activities are. They are watching carefully,'' said a businessman.
On October 7, the Kokang Self-Government Committee handed over 377 Chinese nationals involved in tiger spreading to the Chinese police.
A person close to the Kokang administration said that it is not possible to hope that the 11 Kokang entrepreneurs will be freed due to this transfer.
China wants more than this number. They can't be satisfied with that,'' he said.
He said that the Yunnan authorities and the Kokang administration have discussed many times about the rooting out of the tiger spreading business in Lauk Kai.
He said that China wants to arrest and hand over more than a thousand Chinese nationals who spread tigers in the Wa region.
''But Wa is governed by a kind of UWSA. He can do it. There are many groups here. It's not as easy as Wa,'' he said.
Lauk Kai city is actually a complex place with many armed forces, the army, police, Militia In addition to the Border Guard and the nine-member MNDAA, casinos and gambling establishments each have their own armed forces.
''It will not be easy if he is arrested in connection with the spread of tigers. This is a matter of China's nationalism. This is a sensitive issue,'' said a businessman in Yangon who is in contact with Kokang and the Chinese Embassy.
Although the BBC contacted the Military Council and the Chinese Embassy about the arrest of 11 Kokang businessmen in China, there was still no response as of October 8.
In Nay Pyi Taw visits by Chinese Special Envoy Tin Shuijing and Chinese Ambassador Qing Hai, including the trip of Chinese Foreign Minister Qing Gang, who was postponed, they continuously spoke about suppressing the spread of tigers spreading on the Myanmar border.
Therefore, political analysts are analyzing that it will be difficult for Nay Pyi Taw to speak firmly to Beijing in the case of the arrest of 11 Myanmar businessmen.
