Panthongtae Shinawatra quietly reported to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) on Wednesday to give information about his involvement in loans extended by Krungthai Bank to the Krisdamahanakorn real estate firm, a DSI source said on Thursday.
The meeting was earlier scheduled for Friday but the son of former prime minister Thaksin, who is a witness in the case, wanted to do it on Wednesday, saying he had another engagement on Friday, the source said.
The DSI asked the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to send prosecutors to the interrogation.
Although Mr Panthongtae was accompanied by lawyers, he was allowed to give his information alone as required by law.
The investigation lasted about one and half hours, during which Mr Panthongtae gave information about receiving a 10-million-baht cheque from Wichai Krisdathanon, an executive of the real estate company.
The money is believed to be linked to the multi-billion-baht Krungthai Bank (KTB) loan scandal, according to the DSI. Loans worth 9.9 billion baht were made to affiliates of Krisdamahanakorn between 2003 and 2004, although the company was listed with the bank as a non-performing debtor.
The firm then signed a cashier’s cheque worth 26 million baht to Kesinee Jipiphob, the mother of the secretary of Khunying Potjaman na Pompejra, to buy shares in Airports of Thailand Plc that were later distributed to employees in Howcome Co and Master Phone Co, according to the DSI.
Mr Panthongtae is a member of the two companies' boards and holds shares in these companies.
On Aug 26 last year, the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office-Holders found 24 people guilty of wrongfully approving the loans.
Mr Panthongtae is among more than 200 people who received Krisdamananakorn cheques to testify.
Others included Kanchanapha Honghern, her husband Wanchai and her mother Kesinee Jipiphob.
The source said Mrs Kanchanapa, who is a personal secretary to Khunying Potjaman na Pompejra, Thaksin's ex-wife, had also sought to postpone her testimony indefinitely.
Therefore, there would be no questioning of any witnesses in the alleged unlawful loan extension case on Friday.
In another development, Watcharin Panurat, a prosecutor who joined the investigation, had submitted a request to withdraw from the case after Wachara Phetthong, a former Democrat Party MP, suggested that he had close relations with some witnesses. Another prosecutor, Veerayuth Netiwuthipong, was assigned to replace him.
In this case, the investigators had summoned more than 200 people who had received cheques from Krisda Mahanakorn executives to testify.
They included Mr Panthongtae, Mrs Kanchanapa, Mrs Kanchanapa's mother Kesinee and husband Wanchai, staff of Howcome and Master Phone companies in which Mr Panthongtae is a shareholder, and the Statesman Foundation which is listed as the recipient of a 200,000-baht cheque.
It is believed the investigation will be finished by April, sources said.