Mizzima
There were at least 40 instances of financial fraud committed against Myanmar citizens in Japan trying to send money home.
These were the number of financial crimes reported to the Federation of Workers’ Union of Burmese Citizens in Japan (FWUBC), but the real number affected by financial crimes may well be higher according to the federation’s chairman, Myint Swe.
He said: “We’ve seen numerous cases of fraud, with approximately 40 reported just in the past year. Additionally, six major crimes have been brought to our attention. However, it’s important to note that this is the extent of the information we currently have; there could be more cases out there.”
Myanmar citizens trying to send money back to Myanmar have been defrauded by dishonest money brokers who just keep the money given to them instead of sending it to Myanmar.
The brokers send the money back using the informal Hawal system rather than official channels because it offers much better exchange rates, about 3,500 kyats per US dollar (USD) as opposed to the official exchange rate of 2,100 kyats per USD.
The money is not sent across borders. Instead, brokers match up people in Japan who want to send kyats to Myanmar with people who want to send yen to Japan, for instance, Myanmar importers who want to buy Japanese goods.
Once that is done, the Myanmar broker pays the kyats given to him by the importer to the worker’s representative in Myanmar and the Japanese broker pays the yen given to him by the worker to the importer’s representatives in Japan.
Financial fraud has been occurring when Japanese brokers take Myanmar workers’ money and just keep it instead of matching them up to people who want to exchange kyats for yen.
According to a statement from the Japanese Immigration Office, as of the June 2023 census, approximately 70,000 Myanmar nationals are employed in Japan.
