Lei Lei Maw
9 November 2020
A Tanintharyi court sentenced former chief minister of Tanintharyi region to 30 years in prison for corruption. A house in Thatching township owned by the former chief minister was confiscated by the regional court and declared it as a state property. The court order comes one year after she was arrested.
Lei Lei Maw sold her house to the Global Grand Services (GGS) company for $132,000, well above its market value. In return she gave the firm several public contracts. She also gave the F-22 Sunny Construction company roughly $263,000, just to remove some bushes outside of Dawei airport. She did so without calling a tender or holding a cabinet meeting. In December 2016, GGS signed a contract with the regional government to supply electricity to Dawei region. But Lei Lei Maw signed the contract before the regional government had even met to discuss the matter, the Anti-Corruption commission found. The Electricity and Energy Ministry incurred a loss of $5.7 million as the company failed to pay the money to the government in 2017.
She also awarded a contract for $1.3 million to the Road Management Department without following official procedures. In return she had the department build a wall around a land owned by her husband. She only paid for the work out of her own money after the commission began investigating her.
The Tanintharyi Court also sentenced former managing director Thein Htwe and former company director Aung Myat of GGS to ten years in prison. The manager of the company, Thura Ohn, was sentenced to 5 years in jail.
Lei Lei Maw worked as a medical doctor for 25 years and has delivered free health care in remote villages. After taking the office as the chief minister of Tanintharyi, she has launched a sweeping review of oil palm plantations and has tried to ensure the sustainable development of tourism in the Myeik Archipelago.
Myanmar Now reported.
