Senator Upakit indicted for alleged money laundering and links to transnational crime

The attorney-general is scheduled to issue her decision on July 26 on whether to indict the senator on the charge of drug trafficking, according to the spokesman.

Senior public prosecutor Watcharin Phanurat, who heads the Office’s investigative team in Upakit’s case, submitted 79 files of their investigation report as the senator was indicted on Thursday.

Senator Upakit came under the media spotlight after the arrest of Myanmar businessman Tun Min Latt in Bangkok last September on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering. Upakit reportedly has had close ties with Tun Min Latt, who is a crony of Myanmar military strongman Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

During a parliamentary debate in February, opposition MPs alleged that Upakit was a long-time business partner of Tun Min Latt. But the senator insisted he was not involved in any shady business with the Myanmar tycoon. Upakit claimed he knew Tun Min Latt through an electricity supply business that was run on the Thailand-Myanmar border.

In March, Upakit reported to the narcotic suppression police to acknowledge charges of money laundering and association with a transnational criminal organisation, which he denied.

The senator was not detained as he voluntarily showed up to acknowledge the charges, without any warrant or summons being issued, according to public prosecutors.

Upakit was among the 250 senators appointed by the post-coup junta.