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Published on August 13, 2007

The department's commander of foreign affairs and international crime, Colonel Suchart Wongananchai, said yesterday that committee secretary Kaewsan Atibodhi had requested the action. A committee panel is investigating alleged irregularities in the project.

All 92 people will be asked to make statements next week. The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) has been helping the committee by tracking the project's money trail.

The department and AMLO earlier searched the offices of President Agri Trading and seized documents and computers. It was discovered the company was financially involved with the Thai-Malaysian joint venture Pastina Thai, whose tender won the Ua Athorn project.

The search came after Asia Credit Limited Bank and BankThai filed complaints with police that rice pledged by President Agri as loan collateral had disappeared. The banks fear default.

Meanwhile, the department continues to investigate a number of alleged crimes involving Thaksin Shinawatra cabinet members. The DSI summoned deposed prime minister Thaksin and his wife Khunying Pojaman to make statements on Friday or face arrest.

In a related development, the Shinawatra couple's lawyer, Pichit Chuenban, said yesterday that the legal team would appear at a Supreme Court hearing tomorrow in a graft case relating to Pojaman's controversial purchase of a state-owned land plot in the Ratchadaphisek area.