The Revenue Department has ordered two loan sharks in Chaiyaphum to immediately pay 230 million baht in owed taxes after they were found to have levied extremely high rates on local people who had come to them to borrow money.
Wilaiporn Thaingam and Thanes Malithong, the two alleged loan sharks, were called in to hear the charges against them from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) from Aug 15, Wichai Suwanprasert said yesterday.
According to Pol Lt Col Wichai, deputy director of the department's centre helping debtors who claim to have been treated unfairly, the two men had taxed locals by charging rates above the legal limit.
The Act Prohibiting the Collection of Interest at an Excessive Rate BE 2560 (2017), approved by the cabinet last January, specified that debtors cannot be charged interest rates in excess of 15% per annum.
Any breach of this act could result in up to a two-year jail term and a fine of 200,000 baht, or both.
Pol Lt Col Wichai said that Ms Wilaiporn and Mr Thanes had also acquired several land deeds and other forms of collateral after debtors failed to repay.
"Several locals have been affected by these individuals, who have been using legal loopholes to take advantage of the public," Pol Lt Col Wichai said. "The DSI is currently able to pursue cases against them related to unpaid taxes."
He said Ms Wilaiporn and Mr Thanes' property accounts have been sent to the Revenue Department for evaluation.
According to him, both are in possession of several deposit accounts, land deeds and real estate. Many of the latter categories have not been officially declared, he said.
Pol Lt Col Wichai said the Revenue Department has split tax-collecting investigations for the two into two phases. The first will cover the years 2007 to 2012 and have thus far been valued at 230 million baht.
The second phase, covering from 2013 to the present, has so far been valued at 200 million baht.