Three alleged Thai nominees of CREC surrender to DSI
Three Thais alleged to be CREC nominees surrender to DSI over collapsed SAO building; officials probe possible breach of foreign business laws.
Three Thai nationals, alleged to be nominees in China Railway No.10 (Thailand) Co Ltd (CREC), surrendered to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) on Monday, following the arrest of the CREC director.
The DSI announced that Manas Srianan, Prachuap Sirikhet, and Sophon Meechai turned themselves in at the DSI headquarters after CREC director Chuanling Zhang was arrested by the agency on 19 April.
The three suspects were charged with acting as nominees of CREC from China in its Thai branch, CREC Thailand, which participated in a joint venture that secured the contract to construct the new State Audit Office (SAO) building, which collapsed during construction on 28 March.
Following their surrender, a lawyer arrived at the DSI to represent the three and seek their release on bail. As of press time, the lawyer was still in discussions with DSI officials regarding the suspects’ temporary release.
Suspect Shareholding in CREC
The SAO construction project was awarded to ITD-CREC joint venture a joint venture between Italian Thai Development nad CREC Thailand.
According to the DSI, CREC Thailand was registered on 10 August 2018 with registered capital of 100 million baht, divided into one million shares valued at 100 baht each. The shareholders were identified as CREC China and the three Thai suspects.
The shareholding structure is as follows:
- CREC China: 490,000 shares (49 million baht)
- Sophon Meechai: 407,997 shares (40,799,700 baht)
- Prachuap Sirikhet: 102,000 shares (10,200,000 baht)
- Manas Srianan: 3 shares (300 baht)
DSI Questions Legitimacy of Shareholdings
DSI investigators found that the three Thai suspects were formerly employed as manual labourers, loading and unloading goods for two companies owned by Chinese nationals. They were deemed unlikely to have the financial means to invest in a company of this scale.
Prachuap and Manas previously worked for Santiparp Import Export, while Sophon worked for Thai Glass Industries Plc.
The DSI also revealed that Santiparp Import Export shared an address with CREC Thailand and eight other companies.
Authorities allege that CREC appointed the three Thai nationals as shareholders to ensure that CREC Thailand appeared to be majority Thai-owned—holding 51% of shares—to comply with the Foreign Business Act.
