Panthongtae Shinawatra, son of former prime minister Thaksin, has asked the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) not to charge him with laundering money from a scandalous Krungthai Bank loan, arguing that an earlier inquiry dropped the charge.
The submisson was made by his lawyer Chumsai Sriyapai in a written request to Pol Maj Worranan Srilum, director of the DSI's special case management centre.
It again asks the DSI to withdraw its summons for Mr Panthongtae to acknowledge the money laundering charge. A previous request was made last month.
The case concerns money transferred to Mr Panthongtae from Krisdamahanakorn Plc (KMC), which inappropriately received 9.9 billion baht in loans through subsidiaries from Krungthai Bank in 2003-2004 during the Thaksin administration.
Mr Chumsai said the Asset Scrutiny Committee (ASC) had charged Mr Panthongtae only with receiving stolen property, and the statute of limitations of that charge had already expired. The ASC found no evidence of any money laundering, the lawyer said.
"The ASC resolved Mr Panthongtae received stolen property and the money laundering charge was dropped. I do not understand why the Anti-Money Laundering Office has raised the issue with the DSI 10 years afterwards," the lawyer said.
However, if the DSI was determined to summons Mr Panthongtae, he would show up to declare his innocence, Mr Chumsai said.
State-owned Krungthai Bank lent 9.9 billion baht to subsidiaries of KMC to refinance loans and for project development.
KMC was at the time in Krungthai's non-performing loans group, a category that banks should not lend to under Bangkok of Thailand regulations.
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 Mr Panthongtae and 26 million baht to Mrs Kesinee Jipipob, mother of Kanchanapa Honghern, a personal secretary to Mr Panthongtae's mother Khunying Potjaman na Pombejra.
Mr Panthongtae had explained that Wichai Krisadatanon, a KMC executive, wrote him a 26 million baht cheque and asked him to buy shares on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on his behalf. Mr Panthongtae did not accept it and told him to ask Mrs Kesinee instead.
The cheque payable to Mr Panthongtae was therefore cancelled and 26 million baht was transferred to Mrs Kesinee the next day to buy Ch.Karnchang shares in her name. Mrs Kesinee paid Wichai back with profit 2-3 months later after the shares were sold.
As for the 10 million baht cheque, Mr Panthongtae argued it was given to him by Wichai's son Ratchada, who sought to co-invest with him in a car import business he was planning at the time. The project did not materialise because of complex regulations involved, so he paid Ratchada back a year later, also by cheque.
The ASC set up by the 2006 coupmakers found irregularities in the 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 top KTB executives and KMC executives, including Wichai and Ratchada.
Thaksin was the first defendant in the case but he had left the country in 2008, so his trial was shelved.