Published on June 27, 2005

SID eyes new probe to uncover the ‘real culprits’

Public prosecutors have decided not to pursue criminal proceedings against Thosapong Jaruthavee, the former managing director of Natural Park Plc, and businesswoman Sawang Mankongcharoen, a senior prosecutor said yesterday.

Natural Park Plc, or N-Park, is listed on the stock exchange. Last August, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a criminal complaint with the Special Investigation Department (SID) accusing Thosapong of misappropriating assets and rightful benefits of the financially-troubled company to give to Sawang, who was accused of aiding and abetting.

The prosecutors’ decision came after the SID, which was responsible for investigating the allegations, suggested the case against Thosapong should be pursued, but that against Sawang should be dropped, said the director general of the special litigation division of the Attorney General’s Office, Attapol Yaisawang.

He said the circumstances of the case were such that dropping the charges against a key suspect made it inappropriate to proceed against others.

Attapol said prosecutors had informed the SID in writing about their decision more than a week ago. The prosecutors had suggested the SID conduct additional investigations to determine “the real culprits” in the case.

SID director-general Sombat Amornwiwat said the agency’s investigators had agreed Sawang should be excluded as a suspect because she was not directly involved with the alleged misappropriation of Natural Park’s assets. She was an investor and not an executive of the company.

In 1999, Natural Park and its subsidiaries restructured debts of Bt11.1 billion in a deal with the state-owned Asset Management Corporation.

The restructuring agreement gave Natural Park the right to repurchase assets from the AMC at a later date.

The SEC claimed Thosapong later transferred the right to repurchase the assets to DCH Co, a company founded by Sawang, without notifying Natural Park’s directors or shareholders.

Piyanuch Thamnukasetchai

The Nation

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