Cedar Holdings, Kularb Kaew miss deadline, may face investigation
The Commerce Ministry yesterday threatened to investigate Cedar Holdings Co Ltd and Kularb Kaew Co Ltd because both companies have yet to submit documentation to prove that they are not nominees of Singapore-based Temasek Holdings.
The ministry is considering legal action against the firms if they fail to file the documents by Sunday's deadline, according to Orajit Sighkavanich, director-general of the Business Development Department, a division of the ministry.Orajit said yesterday the department would investigate all of Cedar's and Kularb Kaew's money transfers via commercial banks as part of an effort to follow the money trail in Temasek's takeover of Shin Corp, the former flagship of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's business empire. Members of the Democrat party have labelled Cedar Holdings and Kularb Keaw nominees of Temasek despite the fact that Thais owns 51 per cent of them. The opposition party has repeatedly questioned why Thai shareholders have less than 10 per cent of the voting rights in the companies despite owning a majority stake in them. If the companies prove to be foreign-owned, they will be in violation of the Foreign Business Law because foreign-owned companies are treated differently from Thai-owned ones. Foreign-owned firms cannot engage in certain lines of business and are subject to a different tax structure from Thai firms. Under the Foreign Business Law, the companies would be subject to fines for failing to submit the documentation to the ministry. Any firm or individual breaching Article 36 faces a maximum three-year prison term or Bt1 million in fines, or both. She added that the department would conclude an investigation into whether the companies had breached business laws in the first week of April. She said the department would also work with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Security Saving Centre to examine the background of the companies. Before the end of this month, all documents should be in the ministry's hands, and the investigative team should finalise its work within one week, said Orajit. Orajit added that Asia Aviation Co Ltd, the new shareholder of Thai AirAsia, another Shin Corp subsidiary, had informed the ministry of its new address. The department earlier fined the company Bt20,000 for using a fake address in its filing. Asia Aviation told the ministry that it had used its old office address in its original paperwork but because of a quick move it had not had enough time to inform the ministry. Shin Corp owns 49 per cent of Asia Aviation, with the rest held by Thai investors. Asia Aviation in turn holds 50 per cent of Thai AirAsia. The new company was set up to make Thai AirAsia a Thai-owned entity after Temasek's acquisition of Shin Corp. If Thai AirAsia were foreign-owned, it too would be in breech of the law and would not be eligible for a commercial aviation licence. Petchanet Pratruangkrai, The Nation
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