Amaret sentenced to two years in prison
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The Supreme Court Friday reversed the Appeal Court’s ruling against former chairman of the dissolved Financial Sector Restructuring Authority (FRA) Amaret Sila-On, now 83, sentencing him to two years in prison, suspended for three years, and a Bt20,000 fi
Both Amaret and Vicharat Vichit-vadakan, now 69, former FRA secretary-general, were handed the same punishment terms earlier by the Civil Court.
According to the Supreme Court’s ruling read at the Criminal Court yesterday, both Amaret and Vicharat then allowed Lehman Brothers Holdings to take advantage in an auction of 56 ailing finance companies. At that time, Lehman Brothers (Thailand) was FRA advisor.
Under Amaret’s guidance, the FRA did not press for the payment of Bt2.3 billion from Lehman Brothers, for bad loans formerly belonging to the struggling companies.
The FRA was set up to handle the 56 defunct finance companies’ assets sale. All of the firms were foreclosed in the aftermath of the 1997 crisis. Their assets, worth more than Bt1 trillion, were then put on sale.
On September 17, 2012, the Civil Court ruled Amaret failed to follow through the procedure, sentencing him and Vicharat to two years in jail, suspended for three years, and a Bt20,000 fine.
Amaret and Vicharat appealed the court’s decision, insisting their actions were not meant to benefit or cause damage to any particular party. The Appeal Court cleared both on June 17, 2014.
Following the Appeal Court’s decision, the attorney-general filed a petition to the Supreme Court, stating that Amaret and Vicharat were guilty as previously ruled by the Civil Court.
The Supreme Court Friday cast the final ruling that Amaret and Vicharat should be sentenced as earlier decided by the Civil Court for negligence when overseeing the authority.
