According to the referral from the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and the SEC’s further investigation, facts and evidence were found leading to the belief that Worawoot, COL director and the second largest major shareholder at the time, had known the inside information that a subsidiary of Central Retail Corporation Public Company Limited (CRC) was in the process of acquiring all securities of COL at a price higher than the market price at the time, which would create a positive impact on the share price of COL. After knowing such inside information, Worawoot and Patcharapat bought COL shares through the trading account of Patcharapat before COL disclosed such inside information to the  SET on 14 September 2020*.

The actions of both individuals above in the manner of colluding in the insider trading of COL shares while knowing or possessing inside information were deemed a contravention of Section 242(1) of the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535 (1992) (SEA) in conjunction with Section 83 of the Criminal Code, subject to the penalties under Section 296 and Section 296/2, and the civil sanctions under Section 317/4 and Section 317/5, of the SEA. 

The Civil Sanction Committee (CSC) has therefore resolved to impose civil sanctions** on the two offenders, comprising civil penalties, compensations in the amount equal to the benefit received or that would have been received, reimbursements of investigative expenses incurred by the SEC, and a bar from serving as director or executive in securities issuing companies or securities companies for specified periods, with the following details:

          (1) Worawoot shall pay a civil penalty, a compensation in the amount equal to the benefit received and a reimbursement of investigative expenses incurred by the SEC, totaling 2,118,873 baht, and shall be barred from serving as director or executive for a period of 14 months;           
          (2) Patcharapat shall pay a civil penalty, a compensation in the amount equal to the benefit that would have been received and a reimbursement of investigative expenses incurred by the SEC, totaling 2,118,873 baht, and shall be barred from serving as director or executive for a period of 12 months;                

The prohibition periods for the offenders serving as director or executive will commence on the dates when the offenders sign letters of consent, agreeing to comply with the civil sanctions imposed by the CSC. Otherwise, the SEC will submit the case to the public prosecutor for filing a lawsuit in the Civil Court to seek an imposition of civil sanctions with the maximum applicable statutory penalties, which shall not be lower than the civil sanctions specified by the CSC.

In all cases, the civil penalties and the compensations for the benefits received or that would have been received from committing the offenses shall be remitted to the Ministry of Finance as public revenue.

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Remark:
* Central Retail Corporation Public Company Limited (CRC) notified the business takeover of COL Public Company Limited (COL) through an acquisition of all COL securities for delisting the COL securities on 14 September 2020.
** Section 317/1 of the SEA B.E. 2535 (1992) as amended by the SEA (No.5) B.E. 2559 (2016) prescribes that the criminal offenses under this Section shall be deemed the offenses whereby civil sanctions may be imposed on the offenders.
Details of civil sanctions and associated procedures are available at:  https://www.sec.or.th/EN/pages/lawandregulations/civilpenalty.aspx