Aqua Corporation Plc has filed libel and civil suits against Bangkok Entertainment Co, its executives and former politician Chuvit Kamolvisit for television programmes commenting on the Victoria's Secret Massage crackdown.
The company is seeking 333 million baht in compensation.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET)-listed advertising company accused the operator of Channel 3 and six executives as well as Chuvit, a former massage parlour king-turned-TV host, and two other TV anchors of the channel, of defamation relating to news reports on the channel.
According to the accusation, the reports linked the company to money laundering and human trafficking activities allegedly linked to Kampol Wirathepsuporn, said to be the owner of Victoria's Secret Massage and a shareholder of Aqua Corporation, who is still at large.
The Criminal Court on Jan 19 issued an arrest warrant for Mr Kampol. The court will open a hearing over whether to accept the case on May 28.
Natthapong Chinnawong, Aqua Corporation's lawyer, said the reports damaged the company, its executives and shareholders.
He said Mr Kampol only holds shares in the company but was never involved with its management and is not an authorised representative of the company.
According to the SET, Mr Kampol has a 12.88% stake in Aqua Corporation Plc.
The massage parlour originally belonged to Chuvit but he later sold the business to Mr Kampol and there were some conflicts between them and Mr Chuvit revealed details of this clash "unreasonably", said the lawyer.
Meanwhile, more than 200 police station chiefs under the Metropolitan Police Bureau have submitted reports over allegations that a number of them used sex services offered free of charge at Victoria's Secret Massage.
A panel probing the accusations revealed the results yesterday. However, it said station chiefs who wrote back denied being there at the time they were accused of accepting free sexual favours.
The chief of Wang Thong Lang station claimed in his report that he set off on a trip to Japan a couple of days before a police station chief allegedly had sex for free at Victoria's Secret Massage on Jan 10, said the panel.
Following the Jan 12 raid on the brothel, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) said 20 state officials including senior police were implicated in documents found at the massage parlour. The brothel is in the area supervised by Wang Thong Lang police, and five senior police officials, including station chief Pol Col Thammannoon Boonruang, were transferred abruptly to inactive posts at the Metropolitan Police Bureau headquarters to make way for the investigation.
Pol Lt Gen Charnthep Sesawech, chief of the bureau, said Victoria's Secret Massage will have to shut down along with another nine entertainment businesses under an order by the National Council for Peace and Order against entertainment venues repeatedly violating the law by allowing underage patrons in, or being found with illicit drugs on the premises or selling alcoholic drinks to minors.
Four other massage parlours will be inspected by the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division on suspicion of illegally using groundwater, said Pol Col Suwat Inthasit, a deputy chief of the division.
Two such massage parlours had already been inspected by the division but findings from the inspections are not available yet as the division says it still needs more time to drill the areas to see if the parlours really used the groundwater without permission.