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Myanmar: Frozen accounts to be reopened ‘if not linked to online gambling’
More than 100 accounts of Myanmar citizens frozen by the Agricultural Bank of China in Yunnan province last week will be reopened if they are not connected to online gambling, Yunnan’s vice governor said at a meeting Sunday with Myanmar Ministry of Commerce officials.
The meeting was held at Ruili, China, according to U Yan Naing Tun, director general of the Directorate of Trade, under the ministry. The Myanmar team was led by the trade zone director and district administrator of Muse, Shan State, which is across the border from Ruili.
Yunnan’s vice governor said the 132 accounts were frozen in connection with an eight-month investigation into online gambling, U Yan Naing Tun told The Myanmar Times.
The bank froze a total of 5000 accounts that were linked to online gambling, illegal transfers, illegal deposits and drawings in three provinces, including Inner Mongolia. The Myanmar accounts were among 349 accounts closed in Ruili.
Although all the frozen Myanmar accounts were not connected to online gambling, they might have received money transfers from those accounts, he said.
The vice mayor told the meeting the Myanmar accounts would be reviewed at the earliest and if not connected to online gambling they would be reopened, U Yan Naing Tun said.
The accounts were frozen by the Chinese government on June 14-16. The ministry only found out about it on June 15 and they contacted the Chinese embassy. On Saturday, the ministry sent an official letter to the provincial government in Ruili via the director of the Muse trade zone. The letter asked them to reopen the frozen accounts to avoid damaging bilateral trade.
The ministry has also been working on a resolution with the Dehong Prefecture foreign affairs department.
China’s embassy in Myanmar released a statement on Monday evening that the embassy is negotiating with the relevant departments in both Myanmar and China to settle this issue.
The statement urged traders on both sides of the river to cooperate in fighting illegal cross-border activities and to stop the spread of rumours to protect the interests of people living in the border area.
The temporary action taken by China is in the long-term interest of traders on the China-Myanmar border and for the protection of regular trade between China and Myanmar, it said.
Moreover, the statement said China has a high regard for Myanmar and will negotiate with its respective departments on a goodwill basis. It will settle the issue based on a policy of promoting trade between the two countries and protecting the interests of the people in both countries.
Some accounts in the ABC have been frozen since November 2011.
“They froze the accounts owned by Myanmar citizens temporarily. Whenever it happens, the Ministry of Commerce negotiates with authorities from the other nation, which has happened several times,” the director general said.
Source: http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/26479-frozen-accounts-to-be-reopened-if-not-linked-to-online-gambling.html