Bangkok, 28 December 2018 - The SEC has announced that it has taken legal proceedings against {A} for blocking and not cooperating to organize Board of Directors meetings to hold the Meeting of Shareholders in order to appoint new directors, when he was director and chief executive officer of Inter Far East Energy Corporation Public Limited Company (IFEC). The SEC is in the process of bringing the case to the Civil Court for the imposition of the highest penalty rate in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Act, such as a monetary penalty of 1,110,042 baht.
Earlier, the Civil Sanction Committee resolved to impose civil
sanctions on {A} for obstructing and not cooperating with other IFEC directors
to set up board of directors meetings and a shareholders meeting to appoint new
directors to fill vacancies, while serving as IFEC director and chief executive
officer. In addition, the SEC investigation found that {A} disobeyed
the board of directors’ instruction and refused to facilitate a meeting venue
for the board of directors’ meeting. Such misconduct
was therefore deemed as the failure to perform his duties
as a listed-company director and executive with responsibility, due care and
loyalty. As a result, the Civil Sanction Committee ordered {A} to pay
a civil fine, compensate the SEC for any expenses incurred from investigating
the offence,
and bar from serving as a director
and executive of securities issuing companies and listed companies for a
specific period.*
Since {A} refused to extinguish the case by agreeing to
comply with civil sanctions determined by the Civil Sanction Committee,
the SEC therefore requested the public prosecutor in writing to file a lawsuit
against {A} in the Civil Court, pressing for civil sanctions with the
highest legal penalty. The SEC has sought the Court’s ruling (1) to impose a
civil fine worth 1,000,000 baht on {A}, (2) to prohibit {A} from securities trading or entering into derivatives contracts for five years
from the Court’s judgement date, (3) to bar him from serving as a director and executive of securities issuing companies
and listed companies for 10 years from the Court’s judgement date, and (4) to
order him to compensate the SEC for expenses incurred from investigating the
offence totaling 110,042 baht plus an interest payment at the rate of 7.5% per
year from the suit filing date until the final payment date.
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*SEC news
release No. 160/2018, published on 30 November 2018