Reveals another iffy deal on Sukhumvit
PUBLISHED : 22 Aug 2023 at 04:47
Chuvit Kamolvisit made fresh allegations about another irregular land deal in the Sukhumvit area on Monday, rounding off a series of exposes targeting the real estate giant once run by Pheu Thai’s prime ministerial candidate, Srettha Thavisin.
Mr Chuvit held a press briefing on Monday on the final “episode” of his so-called “expose for the country” series.
The massage parlour tycoon claimed a land deal involving more than two rai of land in Sukhumvit Soi 12 was purchased by a proxy company connected to Sansiri, with a security guard from Mukdahan acting as a shareholder.
Checks revealed the land was bought for around 500 million baht. However, the proxy company’s account recorded the purchase price as 1.8 billion baht.
Mr Chuvit suggested the alleged concealment of the real purchase price may have allowed for a large amount of money to be misappropriated.
He also claimed the proxy firm was a shell company which operated out of a flat in Hong Kong.
“This is a well-orchestrated plan designed to deceive shareholders. It bears the hallmark of irregularities found in other similar land deals [exposed earlier],” Mr Chuvit said.
“The underlying question is whether these proxy dealings were at play, how could one bring himself to aspire to become a prime minister?” he said.
The land purchases were the result of a contractual concealment, Mr Chuvit said, adding he has written to MPs and senators warning them about what Mr Srettha was capable of doing if they elected him prime minister.
He said he has concluded his exposes against Mr Srettha and Sansiri, the company the prime ministerial candidate used to serve as CEO.
Meanwhile, Sansiri released a statement on Monday denying Mr Chuvit’s latest allegation, saying the Sukhumvit Soi 12 land was acquired in good faith and slammed Mr Chuvit for deliberately trying to mislead people with disinformation.
Uthai Uthaisangsuk, Sansiri’s Chief Operating Officer, explained Sansiri and its subsidiaries had never conspired with the seller to conduct any underhanded dealings.
The land was purchased by Sansiri for 1.7 billion baht, not 500 million, as alleged. He also dismissed the claim that the company had transferred money overseas to complete the land deal transactions.
The company also affirmed in the statement that it has adhered strictly to the law in conducting its business.