CSD steps in to Lee hit-and-run case in Songkhla
Influential foreign businessman hindering local police work, writes Wassayos Ngamkham
Acloser look at the recent murder of a wealthy Malaysian businessman in Songkhla has alerted the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) to an influential foreign figure who may be keeping local police from investigating the case in earnest.
Investigators travelled to the southern province recently to gather first-hand information, following reports that local officers were moving unusually slowly in investigating the drive-by shooting of Lee Ah Han on Dec 4, according to a CSD source.
They found it is neither a lack of clues nor manpower that is blocking the police’s work.
The real problem is that “a key suspect is believed to have considerable influence on local police”, consequently affecting their investigation and prompting the CSD to take over the case, the source said.
This comes amid reports that a local policeman may also have been involved in hiring t he shooter involved in the hit-and-run.
CSD investigators are now waiting for approval from the Royal Thai Police to launch a probe into the local police.
Lee, a 44-year-old land developer, was an influential figure in Songkhla, building an intricate web of contacts with police, state officials and villagers.
His habit of handing out valuables and money to his associates earned him the name “Ali Baba” among his friends, though they mistook this character in the Arabian folk tale for the genie in the lamp, a spirit with magical powers benefiting the lamp’s owner.
In the view of his friends, Lee was Ali Baba in that he could grant everything they wanted and this gradually built up his influence as he expanded his real estate businesses in Bangkok and Songkhla’s Sadao district.
“Ali Baba often treated officials well. He even gave plots of land to some highranking police of Provincial Police Region 9,” the source said.
It was no surprise, then, that “many local police also took good care of him”, the source added.
But his influence could not save him when he fell out with another powerful Malaysian figure in Songkhla, which the CSD believes could be the motive for the murder.
On Dec 4, a group of attackers followed Lee who, together with his 42-year-old girlfriend, were on their way to Hat Yai airport.
When the attackers’ vehicle approached Lee’s, a gunman sprayed bullets from an M16 assault rifle, killing the businessman and injuring his girlfriend.
An inspection of Lee’s car found only holes on the vehicle door and window but no spent bullets.
This showed the murder had been planned as the gunman did not intend to leave clues, police said.
While local police spent more than a week making little progress in the case, CSD investigators took little time to reach the assumption the death may have resulted from a business conflict with another influential foreign figure in the province, the source noted.
According to the CSD, Lee and two other Malaysian businessmen jointly ran a hotel in Sadao before selling the business for 300 million baht.
The conflict erupted when Lee found he did not receive a fair share, leading to a quarrel with one of the partners.
“Lee once received a phone call from this businessman threatening to kill him if he kept on demanding money,” the source said. “Their conversation was recorded.”
Further investigations revealed the name of the gang. The CSD also heard that a police officer in the area was involved in hiring the gunman. Inquiries are ongoing.