Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi holds talks with George Soros, founder and chairman of the
Open Society Foundation, in New York in September 2016 / Ministry of Information
The military junta in Myanmar has seized the bank accounts of billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundation (OSF) on accusations of funding protests in the country.
The military regime has put its foot down on Soros’s Open Society Foundation, which is notorious for allegedly funding ultra-left groups in the US and across the world.
The local military detained Phyu Pa Pa Thaw, an official from the Open Society and are in the process of arresting 11 other employees on suspicion that the controversial NGO passed funds to the opponents of a February 1 coup.
After the junta took over from the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, the people of Myanmar launched a civil disobedience movement to press the generals to reverse their coup and to recognise the Suu Kyi-led party’s November 8 election victory.
In another development, the Myanmar military has charged ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi for violating anti-corruption laws, which means that she could face a maximum of 15 years in prison.
The Global New Light of Myanmar, which is a Junta-controlled publication, said that the Open Society Myanmar (OSM) organization transferred funds without seeking permission from the Foreign Exchange Management Department.
According to authorities, OSM failed to obtain approval from the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM)’s Foreign Exchange Management Department for a deposit of US$5 million (7.04 billion kyats) with the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank (SMED) in Myanmar in 2018.
Now the foundation faces charges of illegally withdrawing $1.4 million from its account at SMED a week after the military takeover in Myanmar. The withdrawal coincides with the civil disobedience movement gaining momentum among civil servants across the country.
Myanmar’s military has long accused Soros of interfering in Myanmar’s politics by supporting civil society organizations in the nation.
However, OSM has denied the allegations and has said, “Claims of financial misconduct, including that OSM acted illegally by withdrawing their own funds in local currency from the SMID bank, are false”.
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