Wanna Jirakitti, the young sister of a telecom tycoon, on Friday acknowledged and denied Department of Special Investigation charges of laundering money embezzled from the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative (KCUC).
Mrs Wanna, sister of Dtac chairman Boonchai Bencharongkul, arrived at DSI headquarters with her lawyer as scheduled. She was charged with money-laundering and conspiracy in money-laundering.
The DSI accused her of receiving cheques from Supachai Srisupa-aksorn, the imprisoned former chairman of KCUC. Some of the cheques were accepted through Phra Dhammajayo, former abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya.
Mrs Wanna is the chair of the Khun Yai Maharatana Upasika Chandra Khonnokyoong Foundation, based inside the grounds of Wat Phra Dhammakaya in Pathum Thani province.
She denied all the charges. She signed her name to acknowledge them and was photographed and fingerprinted before being released.
The DSI had also summonsed Areephan Tri-anusorn, the foundation secretary, to acknowledge the same charges at the same time. It was reported that she died of kidney disease on Friday morning.
Supachai signed 27 cheques worth 1.45 billion baht that were given to the foundation and Phra Dhammajayo. The cheques were used to purchase blocks of land in several provinces.
He was jailed in 2016 for siphoning 22.1 million baht from the KCUC and allegedly embezzled billions more.
Many members of the credit union co-operative, which was the biggest in Thailand at the time, lost their entire life savings.