Earlier, by virtue of
Section 267 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1992, the SEC, with the
approval of the SEC Board, ordered an attachment of assets of 10 entities who
were imposed with the criminal complaint in the STARK case, namely: (1) STARK, (2) Mr. Chanin Yensudchai, (3) Mr.
Vonnarat Tangkaravakoon, (4) Mr. Chinawat Assavapokee, (5) Mr. Sathar Chantrasettalead, (6) Mr.
Kittisak Jitprasertngam, (7) Phelps Dodge International
(Thailand) Limited (PDITL), (8) Thai Cable International
Company Limited (TCI), (9) Adisorn Songkhla Company
Limited, and (10) Asia Pacific Drilling Engineering
Company Limited. The 180-day period of asset attachment, starting from the date
specified in the order, will expire on 1 January
2024.*
The wrongdoings subject
to the SEC’s criminal complaint in this case may cause damage to the interests
of the public. Additionally, there are reasonable grounds to believe that, unless
the period of asset attachment is extended, the offenders would remove or
dispose of their assets. The SEC, therefore, filed the petition with the
Criminal Court for consideration of the extension of the asset attachment
period, involving nine entities, namely: the entities from (1) to (6), and (8)
to (10). The Criminal Court issued an order extending the asset attachment
period for additional 180 days, starting from 2 January 2024.
In the case of PDITL,
the company is in the business rehabilitation process under the Bankruptcy Act
of 1940. There are measures in place to oversee the asset management for normal
business operations under the Central Bankruptcy Court’ approval. Additionally,
there are changes in directors and management, and revisions to its internal
work systems, with an external consulting firm monitoring and
reviewing financial transactions of PDITL. Thus, there is no ground
to extend the period of PDITL asset attachment.
Remark: * SEC News No. 117/2023: “SEC
orders attachment of assets of 10 offenders in STARK case and temporarily
prohibits their leaving the country,” released on 6 July
2023. https://www.sec.or.th/TH/Pages/News_Detail.aspx?SECID=10025