Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul led officials in announcing the seizure of assets linked to networks associated with Yim Lieak and Ben Smith at the Anti-Money Laundering Office.
Ms. Rachada Thanadirek, Spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office. It was revealed that the Prime Minister stated the government has designated the prevention and suppression of cybercrime as a “national agenda,” in line with the policy statement to parliament aimed at enhancing the fight against cybercrime and money laundering in order to build confidence among the public and the international community.
The Prime Minister thanked the relevant agencies for their integrated work, which enabled the investigation to trace the financial transactions of the suspects, leading to the seizure and freezing of assets totaling over 20 billion baht.
This seizure occurred in two phases: the first involved 68 items valued at 1.2 billion baht, and the second added 34 items valued at 8.2 billion baht. The Prime Minister, in his capacity as supervisor of the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), has instructed all agencies to establish measures and strictly enforce the law, adhering to the principle of “keeping names anonymous, revealing behavior.” He requested the AMLO and related agencies to proceed as follows:
Protect the rights of victims in such cases, following legal procedures, to return or compensate victims for the damages in proportion to the losses incurred, instead of ordering the assets to be forfeited to the state.
Integrating with relevant agencies, such as the Royal Thai Police and the Securities and Exchange Commission, to investigate and expand the scope of the investigation, focusing on assets obtained from the criminal activities of the suspects and related parties, in order to take action against assets related to the criminal activity.
Consider taking further action to prosecute those involved in money laundering related to this case.
Following the press conference, the Prime Minister listened to the victims’ demands and instructed that legal action be taken strictly to restore justice as quickly as possible.
The Prime Minister and his delegation then inspected the seized assets, including luxury vehicles like this Ferrari pictured here and inquired about details from the Secretary-General of the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) to confirm the continued and decisive pursuit of transnational crime.
Picture and Story Credit : www.thaigov.go.th and KAOSOD
