SEC wants action on auto case

SEC deputy secretary-general Prasong Vinaiphat said this week that the watchdog agency had submitted all related documents to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), which would bring the case to the criminal court.

Prason said he hoped the DSI would bring the case to the court within the 180-day period that began when the SEC froze the assets of SEC Auto Sales and Services executives and associates in January.

In December the SEC filed charges with the DSI against the auto company's chairman Sompong Witthayaraksan and two accomplices for allegedly falsifying auto-sales documents and siphoning off company money. Then it froze the assets of all individuals and companies charged with siphoning assets from SEC Auto Sales and Services.

The SEC can freeze assets for 180 days. If the DSI does not bring the case to court during that period, the SEC has to discontinue the freeze and return the assets. The SEC can seek a court order to continue the freeze, which can be approved or turned down.

The SEC is concerned that if the DSI does not bring the case to court and the SEC has to return the frozen assets, the accused parties will transfer the assets somewhere else.

"We hope the DSI can bring the charges to court on time and that the case can be closed within this year," Prasong said.

Recently Sansern Nilrat, president of the Thai Investors Association, said that he was gathering the names of SEC Auto Sales and Services shareholders. A group of shareholders holding 10 per cent of the company's registered capital could force the company to hold an extraordinary shareholders meeting. The meeting would allow the minor shareholders to ask company executives about its operating status and plans for the future.