Gold still missing after raids linked to Thai tax fraud

[webfact]

Gold still missing after raids linked to tax fraud
PIYANUT TUMNUKASETCHAI
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- THE HEAD of the Anti-Money Laundering Office was forced to defend his agency after officials returned empty-handed yesterday from raids on four sites linked to suspects in the Bt4.3-billion value-added tax refunds affair.

AMLO chief Seehanat Prayoonrat insisted that details of the raids had not been leaked, saying that officials were only told about them on Monday evening.

Although AMLO coordinated with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), he said there was little chance of the information being leaked, adding that the suspects must have been aware such a move might occur and had removed valuables well in advance.

He said a bank had said the safe, in which key suspect Weerayuth Saelhok reportedly stored gold he bought to launder illegally acquired money had been accessed several times in May. Officials found the safe empty, but they managed to "freeze" ownership of a Bt15-million condominium and a Bt11-million unit, both in Sukhumvit Soi 24, as well as land plots and other assets related to the case, he said. He promised to reveal more details at a press conference today.

The gold, reportedly worth more than Bt300 million, is believed to still be in Thailand, Seehanat said. He added that inquiries showed that the gang has bought luxury cars and that the AMLO would also be "freezing" ownership of them.

DSI chief Tarit Pengdith echoed Seehanat's comments, saying the information had not leaked from his agency, adding that there would be no finger pointing as the two agencies were working closely. Tarit also said the gold must have been removed before the case broke and state officials called on the bank not to allow access to the safe.

Some newspapers had reported about the planned raid, but he did not believe the suspects could have removed their valuables that quickly, as the bank only opened at 8am. Also the officials were very careful, he said

Initial DSI inquiries found that Weerayuth and his gang had registered bogus companies using the names and identification documents of poor people. They then produced fake documents to claim VAT refunds.

The DSI had offered a Bt1-million reward for information, which led to the arrest of five suspects including Weerayuth.


-- The Nation 2013-10-02

[NongKhaiKid]

" Little chance of a leak "' ! I have to suggest the exact opposite since there's a lot of money involved.

Notice too how the words ' missing ' or ' gone missing ' are so prevelent in daily news, if it's not wanted people it's the proceeds of crime and of course government funds.

[ramrod711]

He added that inquiries showed that the gang has bought luxury cars and that the AMLO would also be "freezing" ownership of them.

If buying luxury cars becomes a crime, Chalerm will be in big trouble.

[mrtoad]

Someone had a good pay day.

[moe666]

Lets see who in the DSI or AMLO starts driving a new car soon then we will know who leaked

[arthurboy]

The safe containing the gold was in a bank. AMLO and the DSI knew it was there. Then the safe was empty after being emptied by someone.

If AMLO and the DSI knew the bank had a safe that contained the gold in the first place, why did it take so long to raid the bank, and why not order the bank's head office to close the bank in question, beforehand, tell the staff to stay home for a day, and then raid the bank with the bank's head office senior officials present, and why if they knew the bank was already storing the gold, why did they not plant a couple of undercover agents in there posing as staff to nab anyone who came to the bank to remove their ill-gotten loot?

Sent from my own very special stream of consciousness phone, which specializes in asking the question 'why?'...

[noitom]

The money grab and drama unfold.

[bigbamboo]

Now be fair here.

Those AMLO and DSI officials may come across as incompetent or just bent because they allowed 300 million baht in gold to vanish but they did stop the suspects from removing the 15 million baht condominium brick by brick.

[Tatsujin]

LMAO

Want to find the Gold? Wait until you see which officials involved in this ridiculous farce suddenly start buying luxury cars and houses.

[soi41]

"some newspapers had reported about the raid, the he did not believe the suspects could have moved the valuables that quickly, as the bank only opened at 8am"

For crying out loud, this fraud was reported in the papers 10 days ago with the suspect named. So a surprise raid i Thailand gives the suspects 10 days to remove valuables??

"We believe the gold is still in Thailand", ofcourse it is, just changed to a safe of the highranking "investigating"officers !

[slapout]

The AMLO and the DSI appear to be effective when no one gets caught/brought to justice. If I did not know better I might think they were ex police who have been pressed into the civil service ranks.

Pathatic, is what comes to mind when I see either agency named as a enforcement enity/or government watchdog group. Their clam to fame is seizing the assits of a few drug runners, on which they put inflated worth, and then quote numbers over a two year time to make it look like they have done something. During this dog and poney show, the real corruption gains have/are being deposited into foreign accounts and or real estate at a rate which excedes the tax income revenue of the nation.

[Emdog]

I think the gold is in a train car buried somewhere near Kanchantaburi towards the end of WWII. You could look it up. Any serious official with half a brain would get the gold from the bank immediately, not wait for it to open the next day. Ah, but keywords there are "serious" and "half a brain". Therein lies the problem.

[SOTIRIOS]

...duh-h-h-h-h.....

[phitsanulokjohn]

Has someone had their ''Goldfingers'' in the Jack and Jill?

[yankee99]

The safe containing the gold was in a bank. AMLO and the DSI knew it was there. Then the safe was empty after being emptied by someone.

If AMLO and the DSI knew the bank had a safe that contained the gold in the first place, why did it take so long to raid the bank, and why not order the bank's head office to close the bank in question, beforehand, tell the staff to stay home for a day, and then raid the bank with the bank's head office senior officials present, and why if they knew the bank was already storing the gold, why did they not plant a couple of undercover agents in there posing as staff to nab anyone who came to the bank to remove their ill-gotten loot?

Sent from my own very special stream of consciousness phone, which specializes in asking the question 'why?'...

I guess thailand has some laws about closing banks, raids , telling staff to stay home, ordering senior officials around. Sounds like a job for mission impossible.

[Thai at Heart]

The safe containing the gold was in a bank. AMLO and the DSI knew it was there. Then the safe was empty after being emptied by someone.

If AMLO and the DSI knew the bank had a safe that contained the gold in the first place, why did it take so long to raid the bank, and why not order the bank's head office to close the bank in question, beforehand, tell the staff to stay home for a day, and then raid the bank with the bank's head office senior officials present, and why if they knew the bank was already storing the gold, why did they not plant a couple of undercover agents in there posing as staff to nab anyone who came to the bank to remove their ill-gotten loot?

Sent from my own very special stream of consciousness phone, which specializes in asking the question 'why?'...

Oh stop it with your common sense.

The dsi has a very obvious habit of standing in the corner, counting to 50 and shouting.

Ready or not, here I come.

[Artisi]

The main aim is to give the "baddies" enough warning / time to attend to the necessary removal of all incrimination information and ill-gotten gains.

Can see it now - ring ring "hello" -- " Hi - sorry to bother you but this is AMLO /DSI here, can we make an appointment to see you sometime during the week after next about your gold storage and tax evasion etc" --- "No, not really convenient at the moment, the gold price is down and we have our hands full upgrading our car fleet. Can we call you back sometime" --- "Sure that will be ok , when will it be convenient to call" -- " We'll let you know - Ok" -- "Ok, bye and thank you for your consideration"

[klauskunkel]

Interesting how the two agencies, AMLO and DSI, had to collaborate and coordinate with each other to ensure that the fraudster's gold stays missing. The one couldn't have done it without the other. Congrats...

wonder who is laughing all the way to the bank...

Edited October 2, 2013 by klauskunkel

[jmccarty]

Where's the gold? No Hab!

[TPI]

What's the problem? Everyone who needed to get out of the way, got out of the way! It's only government money anyway....the money has gone to Thai people so Thailand (in general) is better off....right?

[RubbaJohnny]

As so often happens it may have been eaten by insects and other bottom feeders.

Perhaps the crackinvestigation team was having a tea break during those brief vital few months