A lawyer has petitioned the attorney-general for an indiscriminate handling of the Krungthai Bank loan case after the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) selectively prosecuted bank executives.
The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions found 27 bank and company executives and employees guilty of malfeasance in 2015.
Early this month, the DSI said it would press money-laundering charges against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s son based on the case.
Lawyer Wanchai Boonnag on Thursday submitted a petition to attorney-general Pongniwat Yutthapanboripan on Thursday, asking him to indiscriminately prosecute all offenders in the case.
Mr Wanchai said as a lawyer who had closely followed financial cases since 1997, he was concerned about the case.
He said he was exercising his right under Section 41 of the constitution, which allows people to file complaints against government agencies.
“The irregularities in this case affect financial institutions and the economy. I’ve sent complaints directly to the DSI several times but progress has been so slow.
“As far as I know, the case concluded prosecution of only 13 people while many others were involved. The case shouldn’t have been split in the first place,” he said.
He was referring to the case in which the Supreme Court found guilty 24 top executives of Krungthai Bank and Krisdamahanakorn Plc, including some of their employees, in 2015. The case against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the first defendant, was suspended temporarily because he had fled.
Of all five bank executive directors who had approved the lending, three were imprisoned but the other two were not charged.
“All five KTB executive directors should have been prosecuted and the net might widen to include others. But instead, in its latest bid to press money-laundering charges based on the criminal case, the DSI targeted the group of people who had not directly received the money from Krungthai, including Panthongtae Shinawatra, while leaving the remaining two executives untouched.
Such selective prosecution indicated discrimination, he added. “It’s not up to the DSI to end a case like this. It’s for prosecutors to decide whether these people should be charged or for the court to decide whether they’re guilty,” he said.
The case dated back to 2006, when state-owned Krungthai Bank lent 9.9 billion baht to subsidiaries of SET-listed developer Krisdamahanakorn Plc to refinance loans and for project development.
Krisadanakorn was at the time in the non-performing loan group, a category that banks could not lend to according to Bangkok of Thailand rules.
Bank executives were found to have approved the loan because a “big boss” said there would be no problem. The court, however, decided there was not enough evidence to establish who the “big boss” was.
It was found the money was later paid in hundreds of transactions, including 10 million baht to Thaksin’s son Panthongtae.
Mr Panthongtae has argued the cheque was given to him by a son of Krisdamahanakorn’s owner who sought to invest with him in a car import business he was planning at the time. The project did not materialise because of complex regulations so he paid him back a year later, also by a cheque.
A panel set up by the 2006 coup makers found irregularities in the bank's lending and the National Anti-Corruption Commission took over the case.
In 2015, the Supreme Court for politicians sentenced 16 people to 12 and 18 years in jail for malfeasance. They included three former KTB executives who got 18 years -- executive chairman Suchai Jaovisidha, president Viroj Nualkhair and executive director Machima Kunjara Na Ayudhya. The other two executive directors who jointly signed to approve the loan at the time -- Uttama Savanayana, who is now ICT minister, and Chainarong Intarameesap -- were not charged. Some reports indicated they were set aside as witnesses.
The bank’s credit committee members, as well as credit analysts, were imprisoned for 12 years. They were also ordered to pay damages while company executives were jailed and fined.