Wealthy Aussie businesswoman denies ties to brutal regime

A wealthy businesswoman who lives in a multimillion-dollar mansion in one of Australia’s best suburbs says people who claim she’s linked to a brutal military regime are trying to get visas to stay in the country.

A wealthy Burmese businesswoman who owns a multimillion-dollar mansion in Australia says allegations she is linked to Myanmar’s brutal military junta are fuelled by jealousy over her success.

Dr San San Yi, who together with her husband owns a medical supply business in Myanmar, said she was in fact a supporter of democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was tipped from power and jailed by the military when it seized power in a bloody coup three years ago.

“A lot of people are attacking me, competitors are attacking me, and then they are getting protection visas [in Australia],” she said. “A lot of people are jealous because we are the market leader in this medical equipment business.”

San San Yi and Win Htay’s opulent Kew mansion. Picture: Brendan Beckett

The Australian permanent resident said she could also be a victim of mistaken identity, pointing to another Burmese businesswoman she claims does have links to the regime who also operates in the medical services industry and has a very similar name.

However, she acknowledged that medical equipment sold by her family’s company, Okkar Thiri, could find its way into the hands of the military regime.

“Private banks come to you and say they want to buy $4m in equipment, you have to sell it,” she said. “But after that, if they donate to military officers, we don’t know.”

San San Yi and her husband, Win Htay, own a three-level mansion in leafy Melbourne suburb Kew worth at least $5.2m.

They are among 16 people living in Australia allegedly linked to the Myanmar military, the Tatmadaw, that anti-corruption group Transparency International wants banned from the country.

Transparency International and Myanmar’s opposition government in exile say that despite sanctions imposed this month (February) – the second set since the coup – the Australian government isn’t doing enough to fight the junta.

Research by Washington-based data analysis group C4ADS traced San San Yi and others, including the son of a senior minister in the regime, to Australia.

San San Yi said she was not involved in Okkar Thiri’s day-to-day operations and was in the process of selling her family’s majority stake in the company to a large Japanese medical supplies group.

Burmese businesswoman Dr San San Yi shakes hands with Myanmar's then leader, Aung Sung Suu Kyi. Picture: Supplied

She said she was forced from her job as a university lecturer in 1992 as a result of her support for Aung Sung Suu Kyi in elections held two years earlier.

She said her continued support for Aung Sung Suu Kyi was why she decided to leave for Australia after the coup.

“I was really close with her,” she said.

Meanwhile, another person targeted by Transparency International is young doctor Min Ye Myat Phone Khine, who practises at a GP clinic in Goulburn, NSW.

He is the son of Daw Thida Oo, who is Attorney-General for the military regime.

Min Ye Myat Phone Khine could not be reached, but in 2021 he distanced himself from his mother and declared his support for the pro-democracy movement.

“I have come out of the shadow of my parents to walk my own path,” he said in a widely reported Facebook post. “I will stand boldly with the people because I am only one citizen seeking to achieve a true and fair democracy.”

Dr San San Yi denies being linked to Myanmar's military regime. Picture: Supplied

Transparency International Australia’s chief executive, Clancy Moore, said the presence of people with links to the Myanmar junta risked illicit money flowing into the country.

“Given our like-minded allies like the US, UK and Canada have all introduced co-ordinated and targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes on the junta, we would expect the Australian Government to increase the number of sanctions and move forward with reforms to clamp down on money laundering in our real-estate sector.”

National Unity Government support group spokesman Ko Saulsman said his organisation planned to give the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade a list of businesses that were still in business with the Tatmadaw.

“Still a little bit more sanctions should be done,” he said.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s office did not respond to questions.