DSI seeks accounts freeze in Victoria’s scandal

THE DEPARTMENT of Special Investigation (DSI) has pushed for the freezing of bank accounts related to Victoria’s: The Secret Forever massage parlour, which has allegedly engaged in human trafficking and prostitution.
DSI deputy chief Pol Colonel Songsak Raksaksakul revealed yesterday that these bank accounts involved more than Bt100 million. 
“We have already asked the Anti-Money Laundering Office [AMLO] to contact relevant banks to have these accounts frozen,” Songsak said. “We believe the AMLO is in process of acting on our request.” 
A source at the AMLO, meanwhile, confirmed that the agency was now reviewing financial routes and transactions related to Victoria’s, its de-facto owner Kampol Weerathepsuporn, his wife Nipa, and related figures. 
According to a source at the DSI, some cash had been taken out of the bank accounts of Kampol and Nipa just before the arrest warrants for the couple were issued last Friday. 
Kampol and Nipa remain on the run. Kampol’s sister, Sasithorn Weerathepsuporn, who on paper is the owner of the massage parlour, is already in detention. 
DSI is now trying to track down Kampol, who is also a major shareholder of several listed companies. 
In a related development, a police source said that the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) would close down 12 night-time entertainment venues under its jurisdiction because they had violated laws. These included those operating without proper licences, welcoming underage patrons and selling alcoholic beverages to customers younger than 20. 
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Lt-General Chanthep Sesavej yesterday said he had instructed relevant teams to submit more information so that the list of the places to be closed down could be finalised at a meeting next Tuesday. 
A source said police also checked all massage parlours in Bangkok in wake of the Victoria’s scandal to determine if they had illegally used groundwater. “Water samples collected from the places suggest three or four massage parlours might have used groundwater,” it said. 
Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division deputy commander Pol Colonel Suwat Intasit yesterday said that, as was the case at Victoria’s, water from Long Beach massage parlour, for example, was of a far different quality to tap water provided by the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority.
“We suspect that Long Beach massage parlour might have illegally used groundwater for several years,” he said. 
Such illegal use is punishable by both a jail term and a fine.