Police to arrest more suspects over fall in SET prices

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Police to arrest more suspects over fall in SET prices

Published: 2/11/2009 at 04:21 PM
Online news:

Police plan to arrest another two people on charges of spreading false rumours about His Majesty the King's health that led to a share sell-off last month, Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) deputy chief Pol Maj-Gen Panya Mamen said on Monday.

The two suspects were found to have posted information relating to the rumours on the websites www.prachatai.com and www.sameskybooks.org, he said.

Police would continue their investigation fuirther to see whether they were hired to circulate rumours.

CIB commissioner Pol Lt-Gen Tha-ngai Pratsajaksatru said the two securities dealers already arrested on suspicion of spreading the rumours were released on bail on Monday morning.

Thiranant Wipuchanin, 43, a former executive director of UBS Securities Thailand, and Katha Pajajiriyapong, 37, an employee of Seamico Securities, were released on 100,000 baht bail each, Pol Lt-Gen Thangai said.

The two were prohibited from leaving the country. Police were skill examining their computers and other equipment seized from them to see if more people were involved in the case, he said.

It's alleged the two accused spread false information about the health, possibly with the intention of manipulating the share market for profit.

Pol Lt-Gen Thangai said the Information and Communication Technology Ministry will decide whether to close down the websites which carried the rumours. Police cannot make that decision.

Responding to questions, he said ti would be difficult to charge the two webmasters because the two sites were were registered abroad.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said legal action was being taken against the rumour-mongers under the Computer Crimes Act. Police would further investigate motives behind the suspects' actions and see if other people were involved.

So far, investigators have no evidence the two suspects had benefited from the fall in the stock market, he said.

The acting chief of the Department of Special Investigation, Tharit Pengdit, said the two suspects appeared to have violated several laws. Police investigators were filing charges relating to the computer act, and the the DSI was lookiong in to violations of the Securities and Exchange act.

Mr Tharit said the DSI had found evidence that people and legal entities were involved in the case.

Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij met officials from the Stock Exchange of Thailand and the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday to discuss the damage caused by the false rumours, and possible preventive measures.

At the meeting, the SET was put in charge of explaining to other agencies whenever any news leads to a change in the SET index of 4 to 5%.

It must also explain such news to investors and the general public to prevent panic selling, he said.

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Somboon

Discussion 6 : 03/11/2009 at 02:42 AM6
"So far, investigators have no evidence the two suspects had benefited from the fall in the stock market," the PM said.

If no evidence of benefits, why would they do it? Whos was behind it? Higher ups? What about the foreign investment companies mentioned earlier in the reports?

These are most likely 2 small fishes that got caught.
Behonest

Discussion 5 : 03/11/2009 at 01:01 AM5
Just a view point from a non legal non partisan citizen. My sixth sense gives me a hunch that the ulterior motive for this false rumor spreading with the real intent of subotaging the stock market by causing sudden loss in confidence for domestic and foreign investors, with the hope of widespread market chaos and economic instability. The final goal is to destabilize the current Thai government, thereby enhancing the propect for new power seekers to step in.
"
The remarks so far may just be simply throwing a red herring".
Joe America

Discussion 4 : 02/11/2009 at 11:14 PM4
Do you think the Post will ever hire someone to proof read a story before it gets posted? Please correct all the mistakes. Three strikes and your out. L.O.L.
Pitanu

Discussion 3 : 02/11/2009 at 11:00 PM3
First and foremost, get the story straight and than you'll see the whole picture, the problem with alot of people is that they only rely on one source for news;

Thiranan allegedly posted her "translation" on the Prachathai news website, under the user name "BBB". The other suspect, Katha, allegedly posted his contentious information on the "Under the same sky" website.

Both websites are known for their strong political stance and sympathy for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Peter

Discussion 2 : 02/11/2009 at 09:09 PM2
Holy Cow!

What is Thailand becoming, a police state?

What happened to freedom of speech?

The Thai Police can go to financial bulletin boards and bust millions of people based on rumors.

The other thing:

If investors in the Thailand based their investment decision on rumors, instead of researching financial statements, are "knuckleheads."
Stay tuned

Discussion 1 : 02/11/2009 at 07:42 PM1
This case is quite significant for a number of reasons. Both persons are being charged under Article 14, sections (2) and/or (5) of the Computer Crime Act of 2007, which states respectively that a person can be charged if they input into the computer system false computer data in a manner likely to cause injury to national security or public panic and if they publish and forward computer data with the knowledge of the fore said offense according to the Article. So, for the government to prove its case it would be necessary to prove that the information these people provided was in fact false. I know we are getting into a very sensitive area here, but if the government is ready to send people to jail for transmitting “false” information, are they ready to prove in a legal sense, not just on the words of a government spokesperson, that the information was in fact false. A possible outcome of this case if the government is not careful is that Ms. Thiranant as a former executive of UBS Securities, has the international connections, financial wherewithal and smarts to hire some very very good international lawyers who will undoubtedly press her case both in court and in the international press. Like so many other stories of late, this has the potential to portray Thailand in a negative light when they badly need a more favorable image. And this will not be a case of a tourist stealing a bar mat or lip stick from the airport. Thailand can possibly expect serious scrutiny of this case by a whole host of human rights bodies in Europe.

One other issue that must be considered. Article 17 of the Act states that whoever commits an offence according to the Act outside the Kingdom shall be punished in the Kingdom, provided that (1) if the offender be a Thai, and there is a complaint from the Government of the country where the offense has been committed or from the injured person or (2) if the offender is an alien and the Thai Government or a Thai be the injured person, and there is a complaint from the injured person.

If as Ms. Thiranant alleges, she only translated information from a foreign news website and posted it on a local web site, is not the foreign news website guilty of Article 14 also? As the government of Thailand is prosecuting Ms. Thiranant, don’t they also have a responsibility under Articles 14 and 18 to prosecute the foreign news agency that provided the data in the first place. So, we begin to see the wide-ranging repercussions as this case begins to unfold. Let’s all stay tuned.

Police to arrest more suspects over fall in SET prices