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DSI to summon Israeli businessman over Thai nominees

Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is preparing to issue its first witness summons to Israeli businessman Maimon David Marciano over suspected use of Thai nominees in businesses and property holdings.

Justice Minister Pol Lt Gen Rutthapol Naowarat said Marciano is not currently a suspect, but investigators want him to explain arrangements involving law firms, hotels and condominiums in Chonburi. Authorities say the assets linked to him in eastern Thailand are worth more than 1 billion baht.

DSI examining Chonburi property network

Speaking after a Justice Ministry meeting in Bangkok on 9 September, Rutthapol said the DSI had obtained substantial information during raids at three locations in Chonburi on 21 August 2026, including sites in Bang Lamung and Pattaya.

Investigators are reviewing documents found during the searches, including property ownership papers connected with other areas, notably southern Thailand. The DSI believes there may be a wider network requiring further legal action.

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Marciano is linked to KT International Law and Business, a legal office in Chonburi. Rutthapol said investigators had found indications that Thai nationals had been placed in management roles at legal and accounting firms on his behalf, potentially allowing foreign interests to hold land through legal loopholes.

The minister said there was, so far, no evidence of state officials assisting the arrangements. He added that the DSI needed more time to examine the evidence before taking further steps, but expected action within September.

Eastern and southern provinces under scrutiny

Rutthapol said the DSI will concentrate its foreign-capital investigations in eastern provinces, while police focus on the South. Agencies will share information as they investigate possible links between companies and individuals across regions.

He said some company directors listed in southern provinces had also appeared in landholding records in the North East. The DSI believes Israeli business figures operating in different parts of Thailand may know each other and could share Thai legal or accounting advisers.

The DSI is also examining information concerning Yosef Chaim Kanter, described as a leader of Thailand's Chabad network, after his name reportedly appeared in connection with substantial property holdings. Officials may initially open a separate inquiry before deciding whether it should be combined with other cases.

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Pictures courtesy of Daily News


Related story

Pattaya-firms-raided-in-foreign-nominee-probe


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11 September 2026

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jcmj Gold Member

jcmj

Advanced Member

Well, here we go. If an illegal business built a condominium and sold all of the units in Foreign, Thai and company name, would they possibly lose their condos because it was built using an illegal business?

If they go down that rabbit hole then we all know that they are just trying to get rid of the dirty foreigners. Let’s just wait and see how much Mr. A pushes this. Hopefully he’s just going for the big wigs, but I don’t trust him. Who is going to want to invest anything here anymore? Unfortunately they don’t change anything until they see the damage done.

TimBKK Gold Member

TimBKK

Advanced Member
4 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is preparing to issue its first witness summons to Israeli businessman Maimon David Marciano over suspected use of Thai nominees in businesses and property holdings.

Grand Avenue developer. Still runs Juristic, I believe 🤔

riverhigh Silver Member

riverhigh

Advanced Member

"The minister said there was, so far, no evidence of state officials assisting the arrangements."

With over 1 billion baht linked to farang owned law firms that set up nominee accounts for hotels, condos, etc, the key words in the above statement Is "so far", Fine line between turning a blind eye for favor and actually assisting in setting up of the arrangements

ronster Gold Member

ronster

Advanced Member
5 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Justice Minister Pol Lt Gen Rutthapol Naowarat said Marciano is not currently a suspect, but investigators want him to explain

Honestly he's not a suspect 😂🙈

riverhigh Silver Member

riverhigh

Advanced Member

Justice Minister Pol Lt Gen Rutthapol Naowarat said Marciano is not currently a suspect, but investigators want him to explain arrangements involving law firms, hotels and condominiums in Chonburi.

With over one billion baht linked to falang controlled law firms, hotels and condominiums that is a lot of explaining to do (smile). My gut feel is that the Justice Minister wants to make sure that there are no hi-so Thais that get caught in the net. Business as usual and life goes on in the land of smiles.

L- Lifeline Silver Member

L- Lifeline

Advanced Member
2 hours ago, TimBKK said:

Grand Avenue developer. Still runs Juristic, I believe 🤔

A first test case regarding a billion baht! Truly he is a Chosen One!

GoodieAfterDark Silver Member

GoodieAfterDark

Advanced Member
6 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

The DSI is also examining information concerning Yosef Chaim Kanter, described as a leader of Thailand's Chabad network, after his name reportedly appeared in connection with substantial property holdings. Officials may initially open a separate inquiry before deciding whether it should be combined with other cases.

Hmmm, where is Patong? I hope you are OK and better hide for awhile if are feeling a little uncomfortable with this terrible persecution. Remember God will never abandon his people.

Dogmatix Ruby Member

Dogmatix

Advanced Member
6 hours ago, jcmj said:

Well, here we go. If an illegal business built a condominium and sold all of the units in Foreign, Thai and company name, would they possibly lose their condos because it was built using an illegal business?

If they go down that rabbit hole then we all know that they are just trying to get rid of the dirty foreigners. Let’s just wait and see how much Mr. A pushes this. Hopefully he’s just going for the big wigs, but I don’t trust him. Who is going to want to invest anything here anymore? Unfortunately they don’t change anything until they see the damage done.

I think the answer is yes. The condo transfers could be voided because the original transfer of land to the illegal business could be voided. So everything after that could be voided too. The exact same scenario came up over the Alpine Golf Course scandal, involving the acquisition of unsaleable temple land by Thaksin. The folk who bought houses on the golf course were innocent but faced voiding of their title deeds without compensation, as was the original court ruling. Somehow it all got reversed but foreign condo owners might not be so lucky.

Another issue is the condos retained by the illegal foreign developer as part of the Thai 51% portion and leased to foreigners. This must be the highest risk area. If a lot of condos in a block were retained by the illegal developer or sold to individual foreign owned companies, the rest will be screwed too because management fees won't be paid.

brfsa2 Gold Member

brfsa2

Advanced Member
6 hours ago, jcmj said:

Who is going to want to invest anything here anymore? Unfortunately they don’t change anything until they see the damage done.

many companies do, it is possible to fully own a company in Thailand under BOI. My company is 100% foreign owned under BOI and we enjoy a lot of BOI benefits and fast lane at Suvanabumi. wink even thou 90% are Thai employees

however BOI is limited to certain categories, like Technology.

geisha Platinum Member

geisha

Advanced Member

I think it’s pretty positive, it will set the clocks to zero and change some of the «  bad » ways that Thailand has gotten used to over all these years. A complete overhaul.

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