Thailand: Money laundering, public fraud and embezzlement suspect Chanin charged in Bangkok court

BANGKOK (The Nation Thailand/ANN): Chanin Yensudchai, former chairman of Stark Corporation Plc, was charged in court for public deception, fraud and money laundering that caused shareholders to lose billions of baht.

Public prosecutors also called on the Criminal Court to not grant him bail due to the magnitude of public fraud he may be involved in.

Wiroon Chanthananan, director of the Special Cases Department at the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG), said Chanin was charged with making fake balance sheets as an executive/director of the company’s board and deceiving people by pretending the company was making profits.

He said Chanin was also charged with siphoning shareholders’ money and collaborating with others in the embezzlement.

Chanin, who had fled the country eight months ago, was extradited from Dubai on Sunday. He had been arrested in Dubai with cooperation from many agencies, including the United Arab Emirates authorities.

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) investigators initially took Chanin to the OAG to hear an order from Wiroon but had to cancel the plan as some 50 Stark shareholders were protesting outside the OAG compound demanding that their money be returned.

As soon as the group saw a black SUV taking Chanin into the compound, they ran after the vehicle shouting, “return our money”.

The DSI officials then immediately made a U-turn and drove to the Criminal Court instead. The public prosecutors were told to meet them in court.

Wiroon added that the public prosecutors demanded that Chanin not be granted bail because he and his accomplices have caused a lot of economic damage to the public and the country.

The public prosecutors also said Chanin was a flight risk as he had allegedly caused enough damage to be penalised heavily.

After the arraignment, Chanin’s lawyer Ruangsak Suksiengsri said his client did not seek release on bail because of fear for his safety.

He said Chanin was concerned about his safety because he received many threatening phone calls while overseas.

Ruangsak said Chanin wanted to defend himself in court and he did not have to spend too much time preparing.

Stark embezzlement suspect Chanin charged in court

The Stark fraud case was named a special case by the DSI on June 20, 2023, involving 4,704 victims who lost about 14.78 billion baht.

The government is urgently pursuing this case to restore confidence in the Thai stock market.

Previously, the DSI had prosecuted 11 suspects under the 1992 Securities and Exchange Act for fraud against the public, as stipulated in the Penal Code, and for money laundering under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 1999 and its subsequent amendments. – The Nation Thailand/ANN