PUBLISHED : 11 Feb 2024 at 04:00
Stark’s acting CEO Vonnarat Tangkaravakoon, suspected of being involved in the scandals that have rocked the corporation recently, was arrested yesterday in a hospital where he had been admitted for medical treatment.
He is now in the custody of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) at a private hospital following a Criminal Court warrant approval.
Prosecutors are expected to take him to the Criminal Court for an indictment tomorrow, according to sources.
So far, prosecutors have filed a case against five individuals, including Mr Vonnarat, and five companies, including Stark, for financial misconduct, which includes colluding with others to produce false financial statements in 2021 and 2022.
The case was filed by the Office of the Attorney-General’s Special Litigation 1 team on Jan 12 in response to a DSI request.
The DSI earlier submitted a case summary to the prosecutors, urging them to take legal action against seven Stark employees and five companies for forgery, fraud, embezzlement and money laundering under the Securities and Exchange Act.
The seven were identified as Mr Vonnarat, former board member Chinawat Assavapokee, former chief financial officer Sathar Chantrasettalead, former chief marketing Kittisak Jitprasertngam, Mr Sathar’s former secretary Yosabavorn Amarit, former chair Chanin Yensudchai and secretary Nattaya Prabpetch. Mr Chanin is still at large.
The five companies were Stark and its subsidiaries — Phelps Dodge International (Thailand), Thai Cable International, Adisorn Songkhla Co and Asia Pacific Drilling Engineering.
The alleged misconduct has affected 4,704 shareholders, causing financial damage estimated at 14.7 billion baht.