Police have summoned a former stock broker for questioning after she was found with former deputy commerce minister Banyin Tangpakorn when he was arrested for the premeditated murder of construction tycoon Chuwong Sae Tang in Nakhon Ratchasima on Tuesday.
Pol Col Jirapob Phuridej, commander of Crime Suppression Division sub-division 1, said he had ordered investigators to call in Uracha Wachirakulton and she was given three days to show up. Both Ms Uracha and Pol Lt Col Banyin told officials they did not know each other during interrogations last year.
But CSD police found the 27-year-old woman in the company of Pol Lt Col Banyin when they apprehended him at Town Square Suites hotel at Khao Yai in Nakhon Ratchasima's Pak Chong district.
Pol Col Jirapob said officials will ask her about the tycoon's death and suspicious transfers of his shares, but would not reveal any details.
Ms Uracha is a former car presenter and broker at AEC Securities Plc who looked after Chuwong’s stock trading account. She is among four suspects, including Chuwong's friend Pol Lt Col Banyin, who face fraud and forgery charges in connection with the suspicious transfer of Chuwong’s shares worth more than 260 million baht. The four were released on bail and barred from tampering with evidence or travelling overseas without court permission.
Ms Uracha claimed to be one of Chuwong's mistresses. Another suspect and mistress is Kanthana Siwathanapol, 27, a golf caddie, who claimed the 50-year-old billionaire is the father of her child.
Pol Lt Col Banyin, now retired, told reporters on Wednesday he and Ms Uracha were in a group of 10 friends going to play golf at the Khao Yai hotel. He denied media reports that said there were only him and the former broker when he was arrested.
He said he knew Ms Uracha because both of them were suspects in Chuwong’s case and denied having an affair with her.
The 52-year-old politician claimed police treated him unfairly and had not sent him a summons to hear the premeditated murder charge before Tuesday’s arrest. He noted that police had collected evidence for a year but were able to arrest him just days after Chuwong’s family demanded officials speed up the cases.