DSI probes auto-assembly firm for misdeeds
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has launched an investigation into one of the country’s five biggest importers of auto parts for locally assembled vehicles.
As a part of the probe, DSI officials conducted a search at JMW Motor Co’s two sites in Bangkok yesterday.
The DSI said that although unclear at this point whether the firm has engaged in illegal offences, there are enough grounds to launch an investigation.
“We found that 30 vehicles had been registered as locally assembled, but they are in fact imported and all these vehicles used documents from this firm,” senior DSI investigator Pongsathorn Yuen-amnuay said yesterday.
According to Pongsathorn, these vehicles included the much-publicised Ferrari that caught fire on a road in Nakhon Ratchasima back in 2010 while being transported.
After the fire, relevant authorities began looking into the case and found grounds to suspect that the car may have been illegally imported.
If investigators find that falsified documents were provided, the company and its executives could face several charges, including forgery, perjury and money-laundering.
Pongsathorn said officials found 12 Harley Davidson motorbikes and a Rolls-Royce sedan at JMW Motor’s two sites.
“We were told that these vehicles had been sent by the Customs Department, which need space to park vehicles it has seized,” Pongsathorn said. “We will look into this further.”
JMW Motor has been operating at the Ladkrabang Industrial Estate in Bangkok, and according to law it is allowed to assemble vehicles for export only.
This facility was one of the sites searched yesterday and the second site was the managing director’s home. DSI officials plan to examine documents and computers seized from the two locations.
