The Myanmar army, which has been accused of carrying out crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing of the country’s Muslim community, procured tens of thousands of pounds worth of technology from a UK company, according to a UN report.

In a six-month investigation by the UN fact-finding mission on Myanmar into the multibillion-dollar economic network controlled by, and funding, the military, known as the Tatmadaw, it was revealed that the British technology company Veripos was among the foreign companies who signed a deal to provide sophisticated navigation system technology.

The deal, which was disclosed in the proposed 2018-19 defence budget of the Myanmar military, was worth 136m kyats (£74,050).

In a statement to the Guardian, Veripos said: “Through an intermediary in Singapore, Veripos provided GPS products to the Myanmar Naval Hydrographic Center between 2014 and 2017 in compliance with applicable legislation and regulation.

“Our products are used for civil marine applications, eg hydrographic survey. Veripos remains committed to the highest standards of ethical behaviour and will abide by any regulations provided by the United Nations as a result of this report.”

The Tatmadaw was the orchestrator of a violent crackdown against Rohingya Muslims living in Rahkine state in August 2017, when villages were razed, tens of thousands were killed, women were raped and 700,000 fled over the border to Bangladesh.

A first report in 2018 by the UN fact-finding mission concluded that the security forces had carried out gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity in Rahkine state, and that the military’s targeting of Rohingya people had “genocidal intent”.

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The report was clear in its condemnation of the foreign companies doing business with the military in Myanmar in any capacity. “Any foreign business activity involving the Tatmadaw … poses a high risk of contributing to, or being linked to, violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” it said.

Overall, it found 59 foreign companies with joint ventures or commercial ties to the Tatmadaw.

Veripos, a firm based in Aberdeen that largely provides navigation technology for the offshore oil and gas industries, was among several western companies implicated in the report for supplying the Myanmar military, with companies from Belgium, France, Canada, Austria and Norway also named.

State-owned and private firms from China, Russia, Ukraine, Korea, India, the Philippines and Israel were shown to be significant sellers of arms and military equipment to the Tatmadaw, from fighter jets and warships to ballistic missile systems, handguns and combat vehicles. The deals, worth billions, were drawn up when the military was already carrying out its violent clearance operations.

The UN mission’s report into Tatmadaw finances laid out how its business empire is made up of two giant holding companies, Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), each owned and run by senior Tatmadaw leaders. Collectively these two conglomerates control 120 Myanmar businesses, some with multibillion dollar turnovers.

In 2017, the income of the Tatmadaw’s autonomous business empire was estimated to be more than £98bn, generated through everything from jade, ruby and gold mining to finance, tourism, transport, construction, food and beverages, agriculture and insurance.

“The military operates as a state within the state but it’s even more than that: in so many respects, it is the state in Myanmar,” said Christopher Sidoti, one of the UN mission experts. “It remains the dominant economic and political player, and that’s the fundamental problem confronting the future of the country. Until the military do not have this economic power, there can be no serious future for human rights in the country.

“We would like to see, and have recommended, a full arms embargo imposed by the UN security council so that it is crystal clear that any arms deal with Myanmar is suspect.”

The report also revealed that after the 2017 crackdown in Rahkine the military went on a domestic fundraising drive and secured more than £8m in donations from some of the country’s biggest corporations to support its operations against Rohingya people, including the construction of a border wall.

A statement from Myanmar’s foreign ministry said: “Myanmar opposed the establishment of the fact-finding mission by the Human Rights Council as it was based on unfounded allegations. We have made our position abundantly clear and we do not recognise the report of the FFM.”