Push for DSI chief to probe land deals
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THE DEPARTMENT of Special Investigation (DSI)'s Bureau of Special Crime 3 will on Tuesday ask DSI chief Suwana Suwannajutha to consider taking up alleged money-laundering through property transactions by Supachai Srisupa-aksorn, the embattled former chair
Citing a report by DSI bureau chief Pol Lt-Colonel Somboon Sarasit, Justice Ministry permanent secretary Pol Col Dusadee Arawuit also said that after getting Suwana’s nod, the case would be passed on to the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO).
Earlier, a source at the DSI said that DSI investigators would probe members of five families who allegedly made transactions and property trade with Supachai.
The investigators were checking land title deeds allegedly bought with embezzled money by Supachai before selling and transferring them to other persons. The DSI move is a bid to seize ill-gotten assets for remedial measures to benefit the affected cooperative members, the source said.
The agency found that Supachai sold and transferred eight plots totalling 41 rai (seven hectares) in Pathum Thani’s Klong Luang district to Alisa Asavabhokhin, the daughter of billionaire land developer Anant Asavabhokhin.
At the same time, the investigators also found another 10 plots were sold, with Supachai listed as the co-owner, the source said.
As a result, the investigators looking into money-laundering cases will check the evidence and probe further into suspicious transactions between Supachai and members of the five families, focusing on how and when the plots were acquired, the source added.
The investigators suspect that Supachai sold and transferred a large number of plots to other persons in a bid to avoid having them seized.
On Friday, the DSI and related agencies froze assets belonging to two women, Pathumphorn Butsri and Phakamas Amornwong, who were reportedly close to Supachai, after searching their homes in Chiang Mai’s Mae Rim district.
The source said the walls of the homes would be checked for hidden money after a tip-off claimed Supachai had stored assets in the two houses.
