20 September 2024

The Office of Attorney-General (OAG) has decided to charge former president of the Land and House real estate company, Anant Asavabhokhin, with money laundering in connection with Credit Union Khlong Chan Cooperatives.

OAG spokesman Prayut Bejraguna said Anant is scheduled to meet with the public prosecutor in charge of the case on April 2nd, to be indicted in the Criminal Court.

The case was held up at the OAG for about four years,through three former attorney-generals, namely Wongsakul Kittipromwong, Singchai Taninsorn and Naree Tantasathien after, in 2019, then director-general of the Department of Special Investigation, Pol Col Paisit Wongmuang, submitted a letter of protest against the order of then director-general of Office of Special Cases, Wongsakul Kittipromwong, not to indict Anant. Wongsakul was eventually appointed the attorney-general.

The case dates back to 2012, when Supachai Srisuphaaksorn, then manager of Credit Union Khlong Chan Cooperatives, allegedly misappropriated hundreds of million baht from the cooperatives to take over the M Home SPV real estate company, which owns a large tract of land in the Khlong Luang district of Pathum Thani province. Part of the land was later sold to the Land and House Company.

Suphachai was also accused of swindling huge sums of money from the cooperatives for donation to the Dhammakaya Temple in Pathum Thani.

Anant resigned from all posts in the Land and House real estate company and the Land and House Bank in 2017.

Credit Union Khlong Chan Cooperatives have applied to enter a program to use its assets to settle its debts of about 13 billion baht. The cooperatives have over 300,000 members, who have been affected by alleged abuses committed by their former management, led by Suphachai.