Tough legal actions to be taken against importers of missing luxury cars



BANGKOK: -- The Customs Department will take tough legal actions against importers of luxury cars which have gone missing mysteriously from the bonded warehouses.

Mr Somchai Satjapong, the department’s director-general, disclosed today that the importers would face charges of smuggling and paying taxes improperly which can land them in jail of up to ten years and a fine four times the value of the imported cars.

The importers, he added, may be blacklisted by the department.

Altogether 500 imported luxury cars have been found missing from bonded warehouses during an unspecified period. So far, 100 of them have been recovered and taxed.

In the next step, Mr Somchai said the department would take legal actions against supervisers of the bonded warehouses and the tax-free zone for allowing the imported luxury cars to be taken out of the warehouses and for failure to notify the Customs Department.

These people, he added, may face imprisonment of not exceeding ten years and a fine four times the value of the imported cars and the bonded warehouses may face closure.

Last but not least, Mr Somchai said that customs officials who allowed the cars to be taken out of the bonded warehouses without demanding a surety amounting to 110 percent of the taxes to be levied will face disciplinary probe and civil lawsuits.

(Photo : ThaiPBS file)

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/tough-legal-actions-taken-importers-missing-luxury-cars/


-- Thai PBS 2014-09-16

Lets wait and see where this ends-up.

Customs officials have always been the hardest public servants to prosecute and control, too many connections to people in high places. In essence, if the military junta cracks down on them they will be cracking down on themselves. No one here will be prosecuted.

Hey dudes, just give me 10 million baht and all is forgiven forgotten.

Another department that is whitewashed !

Customs officials have always been the hardest public servants to prosecute and control, too many connections to people in high places. In essence, if the military junta cracks down on them they will be cracking down on themselves. No one here will be prosecuted.

Wouldn't it be refreshing to read of tough legal action against those who allowed the cars to go ' missing ' in the first place ?

The owners are all innocent, Chalerms "friend" in Singapore was just loaning them the cars. Nothing to see here, move along. The media will let you know when the case is whitewashed, err, I mean comes to a satisfactory conclusion.

Strange that it is always threats and never any action here, seems that no one wants to lose face. Surely the customs people have all the cars details, engine numbers, chassis numbers etc so it will not be hard to link them through any registration papers or simply by pulling over cars that fit the description and checking them against the list but then again this is probably too hard and would require someone to actually go outside in the sun and do something physical

Customs officials who allowed the cars to be taken out of the bonded warehouses without demanding a surety amounting to 110 percent of the taxes to be levied will face disciplinary probe and civil lawsuits.

There goes another flying pig

At least customs officials involved are above the law. Lots of nice imported luxury cars in the car park at customs- have a look sometime.

Naming, shaming and picturing would be the best plan here. Even by journalists.

A lot of these luxury car owners will be part of the so called untouchables.. Think this will be a dead end street.. nothing will happen...

No doubt they will catch the security guard/driver/maid who coincidentally just happens to work for an obscenely wealthy 'influential person'.

In the next step, Mr Somchai said the department would take legal actions against supervisers of the bonded warehouses and the tax-free zone for allowing the imported luxury cars to be taken out of the warehouses and for failure to notify the Customs Department.

Just going to claim the owners/importer took the car for modifications or inspections and never came back,

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Lets wait and see where this ends-up. alt=rolleyes.gif>

Like any other tough actions, it slowly disappear from the news and then nothing ever happens

Please check the car parks of some condo buildings like Ideo Mix Phahoyothin, The Rhythm Ratchada, the New Life At Ratchada,The Rhythm Huay Kwang ,Belle Park Rama 9, you will find a lot of new looking Mercedes Benz of various models, BMW 7s, Porches and other sport cars mostly parked there gathering dusts with strange looking red plates and other number plates that look fake and sometimes these cars are driven by Thai Chinese, China Chinese and Sinagporean Chinese and Korean characters that look suspicious.

The guy in the picture ..photo...is the one.

They all say they know nothing but the boss always has to sign off on these things.

The top dog is always the one that needs to be sorted out. Its incredible that the authorities will blame some poor guy who is paid to open and shut the door.

How awful it must be to work at these places when they have to comply with the Boss and knowingly let the cars go out the door without the proper tax payments being made.

How is the poor guy at the door going home to his family tonight and saying to his wife ..oh we let a couple of million dollars worth of vehicles out the door tonight without the tax paid.

Wife says...why did you do that?

Gatekeeper says ..well the boss ordered it and is nothing I can do.

Regards

Ask these thugs where the money for their palaces comes from.

Easy.

Thailand - 'my word is my bond"

Well, until the next lie, and the next and then the next.

I really find it hard to fathom how so many people tell so many blatant lies so often and don't bat an eyelid.

Thainess - something Yinggy wanted to export to the rest of the world. Sounds about right.

Looks like a lot more moved to Inactive Posts in the Prime Ministers Department like a previous head

There is a new Sheriff in Town. Let's hope the guilty are sentenced and publicly outed.

those cars have already met mr ''CHOP SHOP''...anyone looking for a good lambo V12 engine and trany...

Have they tried in the army personals lock ups?

TALK IS CHEAP. Lets see the action (or lack thereof) then we can all get excited.

Zero sum proposition. No arrests, except minor and probably foreign lackies, no hi-sos involved (of course) because everyone knows the red shirt farmers are buying Lams and Ferraris and roaring engines across dirt roads in Chang Rai.

Yeah, right......

Yeah right, tough action against the hi-sos.

"Bonded Warehouse"?????

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a bond posted by the warehouse owner that is posted as surety that this won't happen? If it does happen they forfeit the bond?

Maybe I misunderstood that term?

400 missing cars? how many general do you have in thailand?

unless.... or maybe only those who are appointed to the new government got a gift....

If they didn't impose ridiculous taxes on cars in the first place, they wouldn't have this issue.