Criminal court accepts B14bn lawsuit against King Power

The criminal court yesterday accepted a 14-billion-baht lawsuit brought against Thai duty-free giant King Power International, the company that owns English Premier League football club Leicester City.

The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases in Bangkok said it had accepted the case, and would hear witness testimonies on Feb 12 next year.

Anti-graftofficialCharnchaiIssarasenarak, who leads a military-appointed anti-graft panel, accused King Power of underdeclaring revenue to avoid paying a 15% levy agreed in a 2006 contract to operate at Thailand’s airports.

Mr Charnchai filed the suit in July against the duty-free retailer, owned by billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and his family.

The allegations amount to a rare attack on an ultra-rich company that dominates Thailand’s duty-free industry and is run by one of the country’s most well-connected billionaires.

It lawsuit accuses King Power of criminally failing to pay the Thai government 14 billion baht from the operation of the airport franchise it was granted in 2006.

The suit was also brought against executives of state-owned airport operator, Airports of Thailand (AOT).

King Power and AOT were not immediately available for comment yesterday.

Mr Vichai, the self-made businessman, founded King Power in 1989.

The duty-free business took off in 2006 when it was granted an airport monopoly under the government of then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, but it continued to prosper even after Thaksin’s ouster in a coup that year.

He has amassed an estimated fortune of US$2.9 billion (98.5 billion baht) since establishing King Power in 1989 — starting with a single shop in Bangkok.

Mr Vichai bought Leicester City in August 2010.