Democrat threatens to sue Seehanat
DEMOCRAT Party member Atavit Suwannapakdee has threatened to take legal action against the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) chief for accusing his mother of embezzlement when she was serving as a senior bank executive in charge of lending.
AMLO is seeking a court order to seize 22 assets worth more than Bt300 million from Pakinee Suwanna-pakdee, a former executive vice president of the now-defunct First Bangkok City Bank.
In 2004, the Bank of Thailand accused her and some other bank executives of money-laundering, AMLO secretary-general Seehanat Prayoon-rat told the press yesterday, adding that the accused had escaped arrest and that the statute of limitations for the case had expired in October 2012.
In February, AMLO's board of executives resolved to have public prosecutors seek a court order for the seizure of the Bt300-million plus in assets believed to have been earned from the alleged crime.
Atavit, a former Bangkok MP, told Isra News yesterday that he would sue Seehanat and other people for wrongly accusing his mother. However, he refused to identify other possible defendants.
The politician said he was "100 per cent certain" of his mother's innocence, adding that she had approved loans to clients who had later failed to pay them back after the 1997 financial crisis.
"She was not able to get the loans repaid, but this was not cheating," he said, adding that AMLO was being unfair by using the anti-money-laundering law against his mother.
Atavit also claimed that AMLO had revived the case against his mother after his party launched a censure debate against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Meanwhile, Seehanat said AMLO had resolved to confiscate some Bt31.7 million in assets in relation to the embezzlement scandal involving the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative. He said this decision was made on Wednesday.
Among the assets to be confiscated are land title deeds, bank passbooks, cash, safes, buildings and cars.
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Democrat threatens to sue Seehanat