Investigation into Stark Corp continues, likely to conclude in 2 weeks
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has confiscated assets worth more than 100 million baht belonging to Stark Corporation as it continues to investigate the company for fraud, DSI chief Pol Maj-General Suriya Singhakamol said on Tuesday.
He said the DSI should be able to arrest the guilty parties within 2 weeks.
The wire and cable manufacturing company, listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), is suspected of fraud by its former executives who allegedly tried to hide the company’s accumulated loss during 2021-2022 of 12 billion baht, 4 billion of which is reportedly negative shareholder equity.
The issue came to light after Stark Corporation failed to submit its financial statements within the deadline required by law.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had earlier warned that the company was likely to default on five tranches of corporate bonds repayment of nearly 9.2 billion baht, as Stark's financial statement, finally submitted on June 16, showed it has more liabilities than assets. The SET said Stark Corporation faces a possible delisting.
Suriya said the DSI has been working with the SEC, the Central Investigation Bureau and the Economic Crime Suppression Division on an in-depth investigation into the company’s finances. It has also asked the company to submit additional documents and has questioned related individuals to identify the guilty parties,
“In two weeks, we will know who was behind this and should obtain arrest warrants for some of them,” he said.
Several complaints have been launched against the company with damages estimated to be around 50 billion baht. Before the DSI decided to accept the case, investigators believed enquiries could take months.
“However, since the DSI took over the case (on June 23) and is working closely with related agencies, we believe the investigation could be concluded in a month,” he said.
The Thai Investors Association has been collecting complaints from victims affected by the company to file a class-action lawsuit.
On Sunday, a few hours before acceptance of such complaints was closed, it was reported that a total of 1,352 individual shareholders are seeking compensation of 2.5 billion baht.
