Red Bull heir evades hit-and-run charges
Last sighting of billionaire was in Taiwan as he ignored court appearance in Bangkok
BANGKOK— As a hit-and-run charge effectively expires, the whereabouts of an heir to the Red Bull energydrink empire accused of killing a Bangkok police officer five years ago remain unknown. The fugitive, whose family is worth billions, has apparently found a way to disappear.
The Associated Press recently confirmed Vorayuth (Boss) Yoovidhya’s last known location: Taiwan. Two sources with knowledge of the investigation said he flew there from Singapore, where he had fled shortly before he was supposed to make an April court appearance in Bangkok.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters about the case, said Vorayuth stayed at the luxurious Mandarin Oriental in Taipei before leaving the island May 3. Since then, the trail has gone cold.
The statute of limitations on the hit-and-run charge Vorayuth faces expires Sunday, though it effectively ended at 5 p.m. Friday, said Prayuth Petchkhun, a deputy spokesperson for the attorney general’s office. “After that, even if you found the sus- pect, you wouldn’t be able to bring him to the court until Monday,” he said.
The expired charge might have been easier to prove than what would be the sole remaining count against him: causing death by reckless driving.
For more than four years, Vorayuth missed court appearances while living a high-flying and even public life. Relying in part on public social-media posts from his family and friends, The Associated Press found that Vorayuth had gone to Formula One races, snowboarded in Japan and cruised Venice, all while failing to show up for court dates.
No warrant was issued for his arrest until this April, after The Associated Press report.
“We have informed the police of our decision to file charges against him several months ago and this is police’s responsibility to bring the suspect in,” Prayuth said.
In May, Thai authorities revoked Vorayuth’s passport and said it would ask Interpol to send an international alert. The agency’s “red notice,” however, was issued only this week — and it has yet to be posted on Interpol’s public website.
An Interpol spokesperson, who asked not to be named according to agency policy, said it keeps red notices off the public site only if “the requesting country has asked that it not be publicized.”
Vorayuth could easily have another passport and could be in any of many places — even his home city. The Associated Press revealed this month that Vorayuth’s family, worth an estimated $9.7 billion (U.S.), has been using offshore companies to cloak purchases of jets and luxury properties.
“In a country like Thailand, money talks,” said Ken Gamble, of IFW Global, a cyber-intelligence firm used by governments and police agencies. “Fugitives can often outsmart the authorities if they know what they’re doing and they have contacts on the ground. Someone of his calibre, he’ll have some pretty good advisers.”
Vorayuth is accused of slamming his Ferrari into motorcycle police Sgt. Maj. Wichean Glanprasert in 2012, dragging the officer’s body down a main Bangkok street before racing home.
In hiding from the authorities, Vorayuth is doing more than just evading capture: He is laying a path to legal impunity through Thailand’s statute of limitations. A speeding charge expired four years ago.
With the hit-and-run count gone as well, the last charge is causing death by reckless driving. For that, Vorayuth has offered a defence: He has consistently told authorities it was the police officer who drove recklessly, not him.
“I am confident that prosecutors can prosecute the suspect on the remaining charge, which will expire in 10 years’ time,” Prayuth said. “We still have time to prosecute the case.”
A glance back at Vorayuth’s travel shows he travelled to at least nine countries since the fatal crash, regularly cheering on Team Red Bull at Formula One races and making an- nual trips to Japan and the U.K. The family, through an offshore company, owns at least five properties in one of London’s most expensive areas.
It’s also possible that Vorayuth is back in Thailand, not only because of his resources, but also because of weaknesses in Thailand’s immigration controls. Interpol maintains a database of more than 75 million stolen and lost passports, but Thailand does not yet use it systematically.
Vorayuth also could be travelling on a second passport of unknown origin. Many governments sell citizenship as a way of raising revenue and Thailand’s upper class has been known to buy them.
“For the world’s elite, they provide something that is less tangible and more desirable than any material object, ensuring personal mobility and security,” said Mara Ispas of Henley & Partners, a citizenship consulting firm.
Private investigators say the biggest threat to Vorayuth’s freedom may be the suspect himself.
“He probably likes to eat in nice places, travel to nice places. He’s reliant on his servants and that is always a risk for rich people,” said Gamble, of IFW Global. “People always give them up. There will be too many people who know where he is and what he’s doing.”
While not speaking about Vorayuth specifically, former San Jose police chief Rob Davis, now a law enforcement consultant, said that while money can help fugitives hide, ubiquitous social media — the clues which led The Associated Press to Vorayuth in the first place — makes it tougher. “Sometimes these people can’t help themselves,” he said.