Luxury car duo to face charges

Meanwhile, annual renewal of luxury car permits will soon be require an examination in Bangkok only, to screen out and punish people evading tax.

DSI chief Tarit Pengdith said yesterday the duo’s lawyer had earlier admitted that they had bought the six luxury cars, which were burned in Nakhon Ratchasima in May. This was in line with evidence the DSI obtained that the duo hired a trailer-truck company to transport the cars for registration in Si Sa Ket. 

He said the duo, besides a charge of tax evasion, could also face charges of car engine-number forgery and faulty import declarations to the Custom Department.

A source at the DSI said that the Ferrari engine forgery was allegedly to obtain a new car registration number from the Thai authority, which would be used for another car. It was found that original engine numbers of the other burnt-out cars were also scratched out. 

The source said Nareunart might also face a charge of a false declaration to Customs because the import document for the burnt Ferrari, which Nareunart had before selling the vehicle to Bio-power System, said the imported parts were for a Benz but later were reassembled into a Ferrari, and a separate registration bid was filed for that.

Tarit said officials had made progress in examining luxury cars worth more than Bt4 million, if they were reassembled vehicles as registered. He said 176 cars had been submitted for the probe, so the DSI extended the period for another week, as 200 cars were expected to turn up. 

However, the owners of 400 cars had ignored the probe, so the DSI would set a standard for car inspection for the Land Transport Department to use as part of the annual renewal of registration, which would only be done in Bangkok, he said. 

If it was suspected that no tax had been paid on a car, the Land Transport Department could pass the case to Customs to assess appropriate tax and fines for the car owner to pay, or else the car would become state property, he added.