Court accepts Bt14-bn King Power case
The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases has scheduled its first hearing on alleged wrongdoing in the King Power duty free contract in February next year.
Senior officials of state-owned Airports of Thailand (AOT) which enforced the contract with privately-owned King Power, are accused of favouring the private firm to the tune of Bt14 billion over several years.
Charnchai Isarasenaluk, former vice chairman of the National Reform Steering Assembly, filed the lawsuit against a total of 18 AOT and King Power executives who allegedly abused their power and conspired to cause damage to the state.
The plaintiff said King Power, the duty-free shop concessionaire at Suvarnbhumi international airport, was allowed to reduce its payment to the government from 15 per cent of its sales to only 3 per cent of sales.
This was in violation of the contract signed between AOT and King Power, resulting in damages estimated to be more than Bt14 billion.
The court said on Monday it had accepted the case for trial and would hold the first plaintiff hearing on February 12, 2018.
Meanwhile, King Power has filed multiple libel lawsuits against Charncha, with one of the cases due for a hearing in January next year.
