The Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) on Wednesday resolved to freeze more assets - worth 2.3 billion baht - in connection with fake government-to-government rice deals sealed during the Yingluck Shinawatra government.
Amlo deputy secretary-general Romsit Weeriyasan said the assets belonged to people involved in fake G2G deals that claimed to involve the government's pledged rice stocks. Some of the deals were connected to former rice-trading tycoon Apichart "Sia Piang" Chansakulporn.
Twenty-five assets - including title deeds to land plots in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri, Pathum Thani, and Samut Prakan provinces - were frozen for up to 90 days to prevent transfers.
Amlo earlier froze about 1,800 assets worth about 13 billion baht from people involved in bogus G2G rice sales to China.
In August the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions sentenced Apichart, executive officer of rice exporter Siam Indica, to 48 years in prison and ordered him to pay 16.9 billion baht to the Finance Ministry in damages for the bogus rice sales.
Former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom was sentenced to 42 years in jail, and his former deputy Poom Sarapol to 36 years.
Previous G2G rice sales to China had been executed through China National Cereals, Oil and Foodstuff Import Export Corporation (Cofco).
But the rice sales panel chaired by Poom during the Yingluck government broadened the definition of 'G2G' to include sales to other state enterprises, the statement said.
Poom later approved two sales contracts for 5.2 million tonnes of rice with two Chinese provincial state enterprises not authorised by Beijing. Boonsong later took over as chairman of the panel and signed another two contracts to sell another 2.4 million tonnes.
All in all, the four contracts caused damages of around 17 billion baht, the court said.
The ruling said there were irregularities involving the four contracts.
"Payments were made in cashier cheques. Buyers could resell the grain to a third country. The contracts were amended to change the rice types and amounts without bargaining to ensure the changes were in the best interest of the country.
"After the sales, payments were made in hundreds of local cashier's cheques, and an unauthorised Thai company took delivery of the grain and sold it to local rice traders without shipping it to China or other countries," the court's statement said.
"Mr Poom, Mr Boonsong, Mr Apichart and others used the two Chinese provincial state enterprises, saying they were authorised by Beijing, to buy rice from the Foreign Trade Department at low prices without competition.
"When the rice market price fell, the enterprises did not take delivery as specified in the contracts. Instead, they asked that the contracts be changed so that they could buy the same type of grain at lower prices," the ruling said.
The rice sale policy supervised by Boonsong did not call for bids locally, resulting in shortages. Traders were unable to source sufficient supplies, and were thus forced to buy from companies related to Apichart.
