Appeals Court orders 3 former execs to pay Nation Group THB13m

The Appeals Court’s verdict against Sermsin Samalapa, Duangkamol Chotana, and Supoj Piansiri was read by the Civil Court on Monday.

Sermsin was a former director of the NMG’s board of directors, Duangkamol was NMG managing director, and Supoj the chief finance officer and board director.

NMG changed its name to Nation Group in early May this year.

The Appeals Court ruled that the three former executives had caused damage to the company by recording account receivable items that did not really exist, and thus causing damage to NMG as charged.

The Appeals Court dismissed the arguments of the three defendants that the plaintiff’s lawsuit was ambiguous.

The court ordered the three defendants to jointly pay 13.033 million baht to the company plus accrued interest. Interest was charged at 7.5 per cent per annum from the day the lawsuit was filed on February 4, 2019 to April 10, 2021 and 5 per cent per annum from April 11, 2021 to the day the amount is fully paid. But the 5 per cent interest rate could fluctuate according to the policy interest rate.

Earlier, the Civil Court had acquitted Sermsin and freed him from the responsibility of reimbursing the company on grounds that he did not cause damage to the company.

The primary court had ordered Duangkamol and Supoj to pay 17.535 million and 18.997 million to the company respectively, plus interest at 7.5 per cent.