When she applied for admission to the HEC business school's master in management program, Theint Win Htet seemed to have the ideal profile, as an alumn of New York University and former intern at Myanmar's CB Bank. As she wrote on her LinkedIn account: "Having lived on three different continents, I have learned to work and connect with people of diverse cultural backgrounds, a crucial skill needed in a dedicated team player." It was a very attractive profile for the prestigious business school in based in Jouy-en-Josas, a suburb of Paris, which likes to present itself as "a unique melting pot," with 994 students in the master in management, two-thirds of whom are foreign, from 67 different countries.
However, Theint Win Htet hails from a country that has been under numerous sanctions since the February 2021 coup d'état, and whose economy is under military control. The business school welcomed the student with open arms in the summer of 2023 for the two-year master's course that costs up to €53,200, without the slightest suspicion or background checks.
A few months later, on January 31, 2024, the HEC student came under sanctions from the United States. Her father, Thein Win Zaw, the head of the Shwe Byain Phyu Group of Companies (SBPG), is a businessman who owes his fortune to his proximity to the Myanmar junta. Washington said his companies have "materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of MEHL," a conglomerate controlled by Myanmar's army. Through a number of joint ventures, some of which are subject to European sanctions, SBPG and Myanmar's military share the profits from logging, fuel imports, and the extraction of jade and precious stones.
"There are many indications that Theint Win Htet's lifestyle and schooling are being financed by money from entities or individuals under sanctions," said Lily Ravon, a lawyer at Bourdon & Associés, a law firm contacted by the NGO Justice for Myanmar. There are suspicions of money laundering, with the funds indirectly coming, according to the lawyer, from terrorist activities as defined by European law: Myanmar's junta is accused of torture, attacks on civilians – particularly ethnic and religious minorities – and destroying the country's political and constitutional foundations.
'Flagrant lack of diligence'
"France should quickly investigate and freeze all assets in France belonging to Theint Win Htet or members of her family, and ban her from entering French territory," said Yadanar Maung, a spokeswoman for Justice for Myanmar. The NGO also said that the HEC student was a shareholder, or held managerial positions, in her father's companies, at least until 2021. The claim is no longer verifiable because the junta cut off access to Myanmar's company registry.
You have 60.9% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.