Amlo seizes Bt100m of 'KMITL assets'

The Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) has seized assets worth Bt100 million from the gang that allegedly stole some Bt1.5 billion from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Lat Krabang (KMITL). 

Among the 178 items on the seizure list is a Lamborghini that actor Pakorn Chatborirak bought from suspect Kittisak Matthujad.

Meanwhile, Min Buri Court 

yesterday approved arrest warrants for Kittisak’s close aide Pada Buakhao and another man, Thawatchai Yimcharoen. 

Pada, who is accused of carrying out money transactions with Kittisak, told The Nation that he had nothing to do with the crime and that he had become “closer than a friend” with Kittisak for seven months after knowing him for just over a year.

Pada said he had never received wired money from Kittisak and he urged the authorities to provide him with justice. 

He said he would cooperate with police. 

Amlo chief Pol Colonel Srihanart Prayoonrat told a press conference yesterday that this was the agency’s first asset seizure in the case and that they were separate from assets seized by police. There would be more seizures, as the gang had transferred assets to many people. 

Srihanart said the assets seized by Amlo included money in 130 bank accounts, seven Government Savings Bank-issued lottery tickets, 30 land plots and the buildings on them, two condominium units, six luxury cars and three motorcycles.

He said the assets were owned by 21 individuals and three juristic entities, namely Matthujad Co, Grand Bucket Universal Service Co and Acting One Entertainment Co. 

He said the seizures were based on Amlo’s detection of transaction irregularities, most of which consisted of money wired from KMITL accounts. 

Kittisak bought the Lamborghini with Bt19.5 million in embezzled money, Srihanart alleged, adding that the agency would try to find out why the vehicle was sold to Pakorn for only Bt13.5 million. He said Pakorn would soon be required to surrender the Lamborghini to Amlo, which would summons the car dealership in Bangkok’s Rama IX area to determine whether Kittisak’s cash purchase of the vehicle was reported to the agency as required by law.

The Amlo boss said the agency would summon the holders of the assets to explain within 90 days how they obtained them.

The probe, he said, was yet to link actress Savika Chaiyadej to the crime although she was a 30-per-cent shareholder in Kittisak’s TV-production company.

She claimed this occurred without her knowledge.