DSI awaits Lehman Brothers' explanation regarding asset auction
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) said it might not take legal action against Lehman Brothers on charges of tax evasion if the accused could give a sound explanation regarding the auction of the assets of 56 defunct companies.
"The DSI will give Lehman Brothers time to come back to explain the issue," director-general Sunai Manomai-udom said yesterday after informing Lehman Brothers representatives of the charges against them. "If the company can give a reasonable explanation to prove it was not involved in wrongdoing, the DSI might not proceed further with the case." Lehman Brothers representatives went to DSI office yesterday to hear the charges against the company regarding the alleged tax evasion. A special committee, consisting of DSI and public prosecutors, summoned the company to hear charges for alleged irregularities in sale of assets by the Financial Sector Restructuring Authority (FRA) after the 1997 financial crisis. Lehman Brothers yesterday issued a statement saying, "We continue to fully cooperate with this investigation and will provide a complete written response to the DSI. Our response will show that we acted in full accordance with the law." The company said the purchase of FRA assets in 1998 greatly benefited the Thai economy by providing the highest bid for the assets that the FRA wanted to sell. "We have subsequently been informed that our bid was 26 per cent higher than the next-highest conforming bid. We expect to be fully exonerated and will vigorously contest the accusations, as Lehman Brothers and its representatives have done nothing wrong." In August 1998, Lehman Brothers won bids for Bt11.52 billion out of a total of Bt24.62 billion worth of corporate loans, with property as collateral, put up for auction by the FRA. It then transferred the rights to the Global Thai Property Fund, which was set up in October 1998, leading to the question of whether the company had intended to evade paying taxes. Sunai said he personally met with Lehman Brothers representatives to inform them of the charge that the company was accused of conspiring with officials to act illegally or neglect their duties in bad faith. There are more than 10 cases involving the FRA fire sale of the assets of defunct companies after the crisis in 1997, most of them involving politicians. There remain cases involving former FRA secretary-general Vicharat Vichitvadakan and Global Thai Property Fund and former FRA chairman Amaret Sila-On. The DSI expected to conclude the cases soon, Sunai said.
|
