Thailand signs pact with Switzerland to share drug trafficker’s seized assets
Under Thailand’s first successful asset-sharing pact with a foreign country, Switzerland has agreed to give the kingdom 1.88 million Swiss francs (76.89 million baht) in bank deposits belonging to convicted drug trafficker Wei Hsueh-kang.
Deputy Attorney General Jumpon Phansumrit on Friday signed a pact on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), which agreed to share that amount of confiscated assets with the Thai government, an informed source said.
This was a historic agreement that could pave the way for similar pacts in the future with other countries where criminals deposited their gains earned from such crimes as drug trafficking, public embezzlement, corruption, and money laundering, the source said. The countries under the Thai authorities’ radar include Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland, and Luxembourg.
“The Office of the Attorney General is working with foreign countries to freeze and confiscate those assets involving several cases as per the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act. We expect all those assets to be returned to Thailand in the near future,” the source said.
An earlier investigation by the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) discovered that Wei Hsueh-kang, a Chinese-born business tycoon and drug trafficker based in Myanmar, had money earned from smuggling methamphetamine into Thailand deposited in Swiss banks.
AMLO asked the OAG to coordinate with the relevant Swiss authorities to help seize the assets as per the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act and an international asset-sharing scheme. The OAG requested assistance from Swiss public prosecutors to freeze Wei's Swiss bank accounts.
In August 2016, the Supreme Court found Wei guilty of money laundering. Public prosecutors later petitioned the Civil Court to order the seizure of the convict’s assets earned from his crime. The court in September 2017 granted the request for the convict’s assets deposited in Swiss banks to be seized and given to the Thai government.
In December 2018, the OAG requested the Swiss authorities to proceed with confiscating and returning the assets to Thailand. Switzerland later agreed to return the assets as per its law and an international asset-sharing agreement considered a treaty under international law that binds the two governments, according to the source.
In August 2021, the Thai government at that time assigned the OAG to lead a Thai delegation in negotiating the agreement. Jumpon was appointed to head the Thai team of negotiators, including representatives from AMLO, the Foreign Ministry and the Finance Ministry.
Thailand and Switzerland agreed to share the seized assets equally, leading to the first such agreement the kingdom has reached with any foreign country.
The OAG attributed the success to the cooperation and assistance of AMLO, the Foreign and Finance ministries, as well as Switzerland’s public prosecutors and its Federal Department of Justice and Police.
