THB125 million worth of assets seized from 18 execs of The iCon Group
Other investigation agencies have seized land and luxury cars too, says AMLO
Assets worth over 125 million baht have been seized from 18 company executives of The iCon Group, the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) said on Saturday.
The assets mainly consisted of bank accounts and cryptocurrencies, which are currently under investigation, AMLO director of the legal division and spokesperson Wittaya Neetitham said.
The 125 million baht was separate from the luxury cars seized by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) and the land seized by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), which have yet to be handed over to AMLO, he said.
Regarding the 1.5 million baht withdrawal reported by a financial institution, which noted that this amount was withdrawn from an investment portfolio in the stock market by "Boss Peter" Nanpapon or Klod Sethanan on October 17, AMLO said it detected irregularities in the transaction. It appeared that the assets were withdrawn to be converted into a trading account for potential liquidation into cash, Wittaya said.
Upon detecting this, AMLO immediately froze the transaction for further investigation, preventing any sale from taking place. AMLO has been working closely with the CIB and the DSI, instructing suspects not to move any assets and monitoring all individuals connected to these assets, he added.
Wittaya clarified that these were separate matters. However, the process is similar, as "Boss Peter" must explain the origin of the assets within 30 days. If the explanation is unsatisfactory, the assets will be forfeited to the state and redistributed to victims.
Regarding the report of US$247,911,936 (8.223 billion baht) being moved out just one hour before "Coach Lap" Jirawat Saengphakdee was arrested, Wittaya confirmed that AMLO had found this to be an off-the-record, underground transaction. He affirmed that it was possible to trace the amount, but the process was complex and would require coordination with multiple agencies. However, AMLO has successfully handled similar cases in the past, he added.
He added that anyone could provide information or evidence to AMLO or the CIB, as both agencies were collaborating.
He emphasised that digital assets could be traced, especially if the companies involved are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which requires them to report to AMLO. Underground transactions would be more difficult to trace, but it could still be done, he said.
