19 March 2026 | New Day Myanmar
A court in Pabedan Township, Yangon Region, sentenced three gold traders to three years in prison with hard labor and fined them 500,000 kyats each at around 10:30 a.m. on March 19, according to sources within the gold trading community.
Those convicted are U Myo Myint (owner of Thein Than Sein Gold & Jewelry), chairman of the Yangon Region Gold Entrepreneurs Association; U Myo Thu Win (Academy Gold Shop), vice chairman (1); and U Nay Myo Htet (Shwe Sin Academy Gold Shop), secretary.
The junta had previously accused the businessmen of causing instability in the domestic gold market, issuing a statement on February 5 and filing charges against them later in February.
The three were prosecuted under Section 5 of the Essential Supplies and Services Law and Section 109 of the Penal Code, in connection with alleged disruption of the local gold market.
According to investigation findings, U Myo Myint purchased around 70 ticals of gold at external market prices in January 2026 and stored them for resale. U Myo Thu Win and U Nay Myo Htet were also found to have bought large amounts of gold at market prices between December 2025 and January 2026 and resold them at higher prices, the statement said.
At the time of sentencing, authorities also confiscated previously identified assets belonging to the three individuals.
Gold traders say domestic gold prices are fluctuating in line with global market rates, and there is a gap between the government-set reference price and actual market conditions. They argue that being forced to sell at the junta’s designated price is unreasonable.
