Thai housemaid’s 100 million baht fortune hits a legal snag

[klauskunkel]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The assets Tim was set to inherit included luxury villas with plots of land worth around 30 million baht, cash, savings in bank accounts, jewellery, other valuables, and even Catherine’s three beloved cats.

 

Due to illegal activities, Tim is denied the inheritance

Tim probably can keep the cats...

[Xonax]

1 hour ago, Tropicalevo said:

Absolute rubbish and fear mongering.

I run a company and it owns the house that I live in.

The company has been trading for more than 20 years - all taxes, VAT and fees paid up to date.

There are 13 employees excluding myself - all Thais.

So why should your 'prediction' happen to me (and probably hundreds of thousands of others).

Why not??

[MRMOUSE]

4 hours ago, thesetat2013 said:

She did everything wrong. She bypassed the Thai laws paying some Thais to use their names as 51% ownership so she could open her business and buy land using the business name. 

Although it is common practice to do it this way with foregners wanting to open a business, that does not make it legal. So many foreigners open their businesses this way skirting Thai laws and think it is ok to do it. But that does not change the facts they broke the laws and when caught will lose everything they invested and earned in their business. 

I feel bad for the maid, she should get something. But the French womans actions can not be denied. 

I hope other foreigners in this site pay hede to what can happen when the authorities find out they opened their businesses this way. 

Tim was the beneficiary not the deceased.

[Lalo27]

I hope she can get the cats...!

[Older and Wiser]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

 

A Thai housemaid on Koh Samui, an island in the southern province of Surat Thani, is unable to claim a 100-million-baht estate left to her by her deceased French employer due to illegal actions surrounding the foreigner’s business.

 

The 59 year old French businesswoman, Catherine Delacote, took her own life on April 29 of this year by shooting herself at her luxury villa on Koh Samui. CCTV footage from the property showed Catherine using a mop to turn the camera away before shooting herself in the temple.

 

Reports indicate that Catherine died by suicide due to her battle with cancer. Her Thai housemaid, Natwalai, also known as Tim, told the police that her employer frequently expressed her struggles with the illness.

 

The story drew public attention when details of Catherine’s will emerged. The will, drafted before her death, stipulated that she wished to leave two luxury villas to her ex-husband Vincent and the remainder of her assets which were valued at about 100 million baht to her housemaid, Tim.

 

The assets Tim was set to inherit included luxury villas with plots of land worth around 30 million baht, cash, savings in bank accounts, jewellery, other valuables, and even Catherine’s three beloved cats.

 

In an interview with several news outlets, Tim expressed her astonishment at Catherine’s decision. She revealed that she had lived with Catherine for about 17 years, starting from when the Frenchwoman was staying in a rented room.

 

 

 

Tim had been by Catherine’s side throughout her journey of building rooms, resorts, and luxury villas for rent. As Catherine’s business expanded, she moved to Koh Samui, purchasing land and constructing five luxury villas for personal use and rental purposes.

 

Illegal registration and nominees

 

While the story initially inspired heartwarming sentiments, it also raised questions about the legality of Catherine’s business operations and land ownership.

 

This prompted an investigation by the police and Surat Thani Provincial Administration officials. The inheritance intended for Tim was put on hold pending the outcome of the investigation.

 

After more than seven months of inquiries, Surat Thani Provincial Police announced today, November 26, that Tim would not be able to claim the assets because officials discovered illegal practices in Catherine’s business dealings.

 

Police identified two Thai nationals, 50 year old Thongssai Katisuk and 36 year old Ratchaprapa Soreda, as shareholders in Catherine’s company. Investigators suspect the two acted as nominees, enabling Catherine to register her company and hold land on the island illegally.

 

A law firm was also implicated in providing consultation and facilitating the unlawful registration of Catherine’s company. Police would summon all relevant parties for questioning and to face legal charges.

 

Due to these illegal activities, Tim is denied the inheritance, and all of Catherine’s assets will eventually become state property following the conclusion of the legal proceedings.

 

By Petch Petpailin

Photo via KomChadLuek

 

Source: The Thaiger

-- 2024-11-26

 

 

Bet she still gets the 3 cats to take care of. The fact that portions of the inheritance were obtained or registered illegally, should not prevent her from receiving those legally acquired and owned, like cash in the bank and jewellery. The property was only 30m of the 100m. Obviously a ploy to confiscate everything, which will end in various pockets illegally.

[Issanraider]

After spending over 30 years in the legal profession in England, I was employed in 2005 by a law firm on Kho Samui.

My Job entailed explaining to English speaking clients the procedure of purchasing land in Thailand by way of setting up a Thai majority shareholder company which was the accepted practice at the time.

The nominee shareholders were all employees of the law firm and the foreigner held 49% shares in the company and the Thais 51%

The foreigner controlled the company by virtue of the fact that their shares were preferential shares with a voting power of 10 votes per share and and the Thai held shares were ordinary shares with a voting power of one per share.

 This was  the accepted practice for numerous years and all foreigners, including myself as an employee of the law firm, had no reason to believe that it was illegal.

The momentous event that caused this practice to become scrutinised by the Thai authorities was Thakin’s involvement in a huge telecommunications company in which nominee shareholders had been used and millions of baht of tax had been avoided.

As we know that eventually led to Thaksin’s exile but it over night stopped the accepted practice of foreigners using the law firm’s employees as shareholders and the clients I was dealing with were told that they had to provide their own shareholders which needless to say led to immense problems.

 The point I am making here is that the French lady who is the subject of this article was probably unaware that her companies had been set up illegally and it is the unsuspecting maid that will be the loser.

 I am interested to know the name of the law firm involved here as it would not surprise me if it is the one I was employed by.

[renaissanc]

10 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

No there wasn't 

Sorry, but the article was in the Bangkok Post 2 days ago, I think it was.

[Tropicalevo]

8 minutes ago, Issanraider said:

The foreigner controlled the company by virtue of the fact that their shares were preferential shares with a voting power of 10 votes per share and and the Thai held shares were ordinary shares with a voting power of one per share.

 This was  the accepted practice for numerous years and all foreigners, including myself as an employee of the law firm, had no reason to believe that it was illegal.

 

I attended a course in Bangkok back in 2000 entitled 'Thai Law for Foreigners'.

The course was given by lecturers who taught lawyers.

The nominee shareholder thing back then was totally legal.

However, the lecturer explained that it would be best NOT to use that method, because if it went to trial, the judgement would probably come down against the foreigner.

The argument being that the preference shareholder scheme implied that a foreigner was worth more than a Thai!

There is the letter of Thai law and then there is the spirit of Thai law.

Spirit always wins.

 

The lecturer then told us how to do it all legally and within the spirit of the law.

 

 

[renaissanc]

I think that maybe the only safe way for a foreigner to own a house for investment is to get married to a Thai, have children, and then register the investment house(s) in the child's name. If your wife divorces you after the child has learned to read and write, no problem. Your child can write a letter giving you permission to live in that house / those houses and your ex-wife can't take the house(s).

[Hunz Kittisak]

The French woman should have just liquidated everything instead 

Cash is king 

[Cabradelmar]

That's how this whole nominee scheme is suppose to play out... Thais look the other way while holding out their hands to collect illegal money from the foreigner, and when the foreign dies, leaves or is otherwise no longer welcome, the Thais take everything back, and the cycle states again. don't believe for a minute Thais want illegal nominees to stop operating, and never think that a working class poor Thai will ever benefit  from there schemes (ie. this housemaid). TiT.

[renaissanc]

There is no way that the 100 million Baht in assets will go to the state. The maid's last resort is to make an agreement with the Police that they share some of the assets with her or else she will call for an investigation about where the assets really went.

[steven.g]

It's my understanding that foreigners cannot own property in Thailand; hence, the number of Thai wives/partners acting as owners/proxies. This whole affair reeks of bribery and corruption- the usual here. Feel sorry for the mid though. 

[georgegeorgia]

55 minutes ago, renaissanc said:

Sorry, but the article was in the Bangkok Post 2 days ago, I think it was.

Thankyou for clarifying that

[gravity101]

44 minutes ago, renaissanc said:

I think that maybe the only safe way for a foreigner to own a house for investment is to get married to a Thai, have children, and then register the investment house(s) in the child's name. If your wife divorces you after the child has learned to read and write, no problem. Your child can write a letter giving you permission to live in that house / those houses and your ex-wife can't take the house(s).

I'd like to hear whos done that on here with a minor. Phuket land department says no way. Lawyers say nope. They will allow a Thai wife to 'gift' a Thai minor however, 50k I was quoted as a brown envelope to go down that route as it was still shady. And of course to do that, the Thai wife has to sign at the land department that it was her own personal money that bought the land to start with for any potential future divorce. The kids legally cant sign a lease agreement with you either. Not sure what legal quandary that puts the farrang in if you divorce before the kids 20 and the wife wants to sell it and has legal avenues over the child to do so.

[spidermike007]

Sounds and smells very fishy. My guess is that a local official, perhaps the mayor of Samui wants to claim these assets. It would be very easy for them to just create a story like this and block an inheritance.

 

After all, why would some rich Thai guy with a lot of power want a poor maid to inherit this kind of wealth? There is no good will amongst thieves. 

[baansgr]

2 hours ago, zepplin said:

Pick any 1000 ferang owned homes on samui, and guess what . 1000 have been bought exactly the same way! 
F stupid government, so short sighted!

there goes investment in Thailand, right out the window!

I don't think so, with the Bandidos falsifying chanotes and land encroachment,  blue something or other company doing the same and many other too boot over the past 20 odd years...there are mugs only too willing to own a piece of paradise...well that's what they think...lease, usefruct or company done properly is the only way to be safe, but what use is a house if you dont own the land its built on

[jvs]

As usual there are different things in the mix here.

We are not talking about someone who opened a business to buy a house plus land and live there.

The French lady was involved in real estate dealings ,buying and selling property and probably renting out houses also.

Two totally different things.

No it is not going to happen that by next week any one who has this type of company will be evicted,put in jail and send home without anything!

That is just fear mongering.

Talking about this and personal income tax with my notary last week he explained a lot of it again.

He says each year the tax department comes to his office and go thru a lot of his files.

To date no company that he  has set up has been in trouble with the tax department.

In case there would be trouble the courts will likely give you one year to fix the problem along with a fine.

Can you imagine what would happen to Thailand if the fear mongering would be true?

I expect some stories to come out claiming other wise but i am speaking in general.

I have had a company here for over 20 years and file taxes every year.

 

 

 

[digger70]

13 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Whilst the French lady was alive, everyone was happy with the status quo - all taking money from her.

Now that she is dead, the ultra-rich and local politicians are circling like vultures.

They Are vultures, Can they prove that they done nothing Illegal to get where they are now, Bet ya they can't.

[ryandb]

2 hours ago, Older and Wiser said:

Bet she still gets the 3 cats to take care of. The fact that portions of the inheritance were obtained or registered illegally, should not prevent her from receiving those legally acquired and owned, like cash in the bank and jewellery. The property was only 30m of the 100m. Obviously a ploy to confiscate everything, which will end in various pockets illegally.

Well, they can use the fact that the income to buy said items was from illegal business practices, unfortunately. It's like a drug dealer they'll seize everything in his name and auction it off because it's likely to have been bought with profits from illegal practices.

[OneZero]

7 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

A reminder to those with property in company name using illegal proxy thai shareholders the net will close in eventually 

... and a police /government scam to purposely look the other way initially, so as to be able to grab all the proceeds later.

[malcolminthemiddle]

The maid should still inherit the privately held assets?

[richard_smith237]

12 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

14 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Sickening...  Pigs at the trough... 

Quite right, the pig at the trough should have set up her business legally then there would be no issue.

 

'Legally' as in registering at the land office and transferring money through Thai banks ? - no questionable dealings were identified at that point, Thai authorities were more than happy to legalise her business and properties...  it was only when there is money to be 'skimmed' that issues are found.

 

Thus is pure greed - Someone in a position of Authority wants this land a bargain price - No I don't have proof, but if you can't see through this facade then you are as naive as you are deliberately obtuse.

 

A simple transfer to the Maid as per the will would fully legalise the ownership of the properties and overwrite any  formality flaws previously missed.

 

 

There is an underlying bigotry to this story - whereby those in positions of power appear to want to keep those they consider 'below their station' down on the ground and below their station - they can't have those they consider below them being wealthier than then - this stings at the very core of there 'face'...  its dirty, nasty, evil skulduggery...  wrong on every level.

 

 

 

[Liverpool Lou]

8 hours ago, ukrules said:

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Due to these illegal activities, Tim is denied the inheritance, and all of Catherine’s assets will eventually become state property following the conclusion of the legal proceedings.

 

That statement right there tells us all what will happen to everyone who used a company to purchase any property.

Nonsense, that is not the message.  The action actually tells us that those who illegally use nominees to circumvent the property-owning laws, as the French woman apparently did with the aid of her lawyer, are the ones to be concerned.  Doing it legally, with legal Thai partners, will not result in the potential loss of that property.

[quake]

3 hours ago, ronster said:

A Thai and their foreign partner can own a company and the house will be registered to that company as the place the company is run from or registered too and the Thai can have 51% and their non Thai partner 49% of company ownership.

The dodgy ones are a foreigner owns a company and registers the home to that company. They own 49% of company but the other part is named to nominees who don't know each other usually etc and and are paid a few thousand to use their name in the company. The Thai nominees never usually have anything to do with the accounts or business once it is set up and the foreigner just pays taxes made up by a lawyer .

 

You still need to show a working company / Business.

 

 

Edited 22 minutes ago by quake

[Liverpool Lou]

7 hours ago, DUNROAMIN said:

Load of bull more like it, Looks like illegal activities by Thai government officials, brown envelopes for all. 

Load of bull.  The illegal activity was the French woman's illegal use of Thai nominees in order for her to control the ownership of property to which she was not entitled.

[UK Martin]

Stories like this make me so sick of Thailand and its corrupt government... poor Tim.

[Liverpool Lou]

7 hours ago, Tailwagsdog said:

Never invest a bean in thailand

Unless you do it legally.

[Liverpool Lou]

6 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Here we go, clawing money and property back from the dead..... now I've heard it all.

Property that she accumulated illegally.

[Nick Carter icp]

7 hours ago, DUNROAMIN said:

Load of bull more like it, Looks like illegal activities by Thai government officials, brown envelopes for all. 

 

   Which activities by the Thai Gov look like they are illegal ?