DSI freezes land assets worth B86m in fraud probe
A freeze has been ordered on 78 tracts of land and buildings allegedly acquired using money defrauded from a state railway cooperative, according to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
A DSI investigation team led by Pol Lt Col Somboon Sarasit, the DSI deputy director-general, inspected the tracts and buildings in question in Phetchaburi yesterday.
The inspection was joined by senior officials from the DSI’s money laundering bureau, the local police, land officials and Department of Cooperative Promotion inspector-general.
Pol Lt Col Somboon said the anti-money laundering bureau has expanded its investigation into the alleged fraud at the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) club cooperative and found money defrauded from the cooperative had been spent acquiring large pieces of land in Phetchaburi, Nonthaburi and Bangkok.
The money embezzled from the cooperative was linked to a network of officials led by a former SRT club executive.
The DSI deputy chief said substantial funds had been withdrawn from the cooperative’s bank accounts and used to buy the land and buildings as a means to launder the sums.
The DSI confirmed 78 tracts of land and buildings were bought; six land plots in Thawi Watthana district of Bangkok; seven apartments in Pak Kret district of Nonthaburi; 23 pieces of land in a housing estate in Muang district of Phetchaburi; and a further 49 plots in Kaeng Krachan district of Phetchaburi.
The land and buildings are worth altogether about 85 million baht, according to Pol Lt Col Somboon who is also the lead investigator in the case.
A freeze has been put on the properties and the buildings as the DSI was expediting its probe so ownership of the assets could be diverted to the cooperative members as soon as possible, he said.
The DSI has been working alongside the Anti-Money Laundering Office to request the court order, via the prosecution, to secure the assets and proceed with their return to the cooperative.
He said the cooperative has about 6,000 members.