Senate panel finds 3 suspected nominees of CREC No. 10 hold shares in 11 other firms

A special Senate committee has found that three suspected Thai nominees, registered as major shareholders of China Railway No. 10 Engineering Group (CREC No. 10), also hold shares in 11 other companies. Alarmingly, some of them reportedly hold shares in as many as 120 firms, despite not appearing to be wealthy.

Preliminary Findings Raise Red Flags

Senator Ekkachai Ruangrat told a press conference that a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Industry had uncovered suspicious shareholdings during a preliminary investigation. He said further probes into related firms would be necessary.

The initial findings will be submitted to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the Prime Minister’s Office, he added.

Investigation Triggered by CREC No. 10 Allegations

The Senate formed the subpanel following allegations against CREC No. 10, which has been charged by the DSI with:

• Using Thai nominees to operate businesses in Thailand
• Engaging in alleged bid rigging
• Using substandard construction materials

The DSI launched an investigation into CREC No. 10 after the collapse of a building under construction in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district on 28 March, when a magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck Myanmar. The collapsed building, belonging to the State Audit Office, was being built by a joint venture between Italian-Thai Development and CREC No. 10.

Nominee Practice Under Scrutiny

Ekkachai said the subpanel found that the three Thai nationals in question were not financially capable of being major shareholders, yet together held 51% of shares in CREC No. 10—raising suspicions of nominee practices in violation of Thai law.

“We further checked and found the three Thais hold shares in 11 other firms,” Ekkachai added.

He also revealed that other Chinese firms using the same three nominees as major shareholders included:

• CREC No. 11
• CREC No. 20
• CREC No. 23
• China Railway Construction
• China Railway Connections (Thailand)