Chuwong's family urges swift justice

Chuwong's family urges swift justice

Police place a dummy in the front passenger seat of a car during a crash test in the investigation into Chuwong Sae Tang's death. (Bangkok Post file photo)
Police place a dummy in the front passenger seat of a car during a crash test in the investigation into Chuwong Sae Tang's death. (Bangkok Post file photo)

The family of construction tycoon Chuwong Sae Tang on Sunday demanded police and public prosecutors speed up the two cases involving his suspicious death and transfers of his shares, saying they had waited for justice to be served for a year.

The family made the plea as they held a religious and merit-making rite to mark the first anniversary of Chuwong’s death at Wat Debsirindrawas in Bangkok. 

Wanpen Thanadhamsiri, Chuwong’s older sister, said her brother died a year ago but Crime Suppression Division (CSD) investigators were still collecting additional evidence related to Chuwong’s death. She called on the police to clarify the slow progress in the case.    

Mrs Wanpen said an attempt to negotiate with the family had been made through a senior figure whom the family respected but she refused the meeting. She did not say who tried to arrange the negotiations. 

The family had also received several threats in the past year but did not know who was behind them. Mrs Wanpen said there were six gun shots close to the family’s home; someone followed her in a car; and a stranger had shown up at her house asking to talk. 

The family’s lawyer, Anek Khamchum, said CSD police had submitted investigation reports in the two cases to prosecutors last year but they were asked to gather more evidence about the money trail and footage from CCTV cameras and re-submit the information. 

On June 26 last year, Chuwong, 50, the owner of construction firm Standard Performance, was found dead in the front passenger seat of a Lexus sports utility vehicle that collided with a tree in Bangkok's Prawet district.

The driver, Pol Lt Col Banyin Tangpakorn, one of the four suspects and Chuwong’s friend, was slightly injured in the accident. Chuwong’s family later asked authorities to investigate his death on learning the billionaire’s shares had been transferred to two women — Kanthana Siwathanapol and Uracha Wachirakulton — just days before the accident. Ms Wachirakulton received the funds through her mother's trading account.

Acting CSD commander Charn Wimolsri said on Sunday the officers in charge of the share transfers case had submitted the latest investigation report to prosecutors who were expected to decide whether to indict the suspects in one or two months. 

The officers expected to wrap up the investigation into Chuwong’s death no later than a month. Pol Maj Gen Charn said police were waiting for conclusions from medical experts after they carried out a car crash test at the accident scene in September last year, which involved the use of a crash-test dummy, sensors and cameras inside a similar vehicle. 

He said the process was time consuming to ensure watertight evidence as the case had drawn wide public attention.  

Pol Maj Gen Charn in January admitted authorities faced difficulty in unravelling the tycoon's death as the victim's body had been cremated and most evidence retrieved from the crime scene had been damaged.


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