Death Penalty Awarded For Australian's Murderers

[Jai Dee]

Death penalty for Michael Wansley's murderers

Criminal Court delivered death penalties on two men on Tuesday for murdering an Australian auditor, Michael Wansley in Nakhon Sawan province in 1999.

The Court found that Somchoke Suthiviriwan and Sompong Buasakoon guilty of planned murder Wansley in March 1999.

Wansley, 58 at the time of his death, was travelling to a sugar mill in Nakhon Sawan when two men on a motorcycle pulled alongside his van and shot him dead.

Wansley, an employee of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, had been hired by the banking creditors of the Kaset Thai Sugar Co to help address the firm's Bt17.1-billion debt.

The Court acquitted the mill's owner, Pradit Siriviriyakul, who was initially charged with masterminding the murder because of lack of evidence.

Australia had complained in 2003 of what it called tardiness in the slow investigations and trial into the murder. At that time, police was still only at the stage of interrogating state witness.

Source: The Nation - 5 September 2006

[kmart]

Wonderful. Seven years later, a couple of stooges get sent down.

Allegedly, Walmsley had found out where all the money was going to. It doesn't take any genius super-sleuth to find out who was responsible. Has there ever been any "poo yai" done time in this banana republic?

[LaoPo]

Death penalty for Michael Wansley's murderers

Criminal Court delivered death penalties on two men on Tuesday for murdering an Australian auditor, Michael Wansley in Nakhon Sawan province in 1999.

The Court found that Somchoke Suthiviriwan and Sompong Buasakoon guilty of planned murder Wansley in March 1999.

Wansley, 58 at the time of his death, was travelling to a sugar mill in Nakhon Sawan when two men on a motorcycle pulled alongside his van and shot him dead.

Wansley, an employee of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, had been hired by the banking creditors of the Kaset Thai Sugar Co to help address the firm's Bt17.1-billion debt.

The Court acquitted the mill's owner, Pradit Siriviriyakul, who was initially charged with masterminding the murder because of lack of evidence.

Australia had complained in 2003 of what it called tardiness in the slow investigations and trial into the murder. At that time, police was still only at the stage of interrogating state witness.

Source: The Nation - 5 September 2006

LaoPo

[chuchok]

Wonderful. Seven years later, a couple of stooges get sent down.

Allegedly, Walmsley had found out where all the money was going to. It doesn't take any genius super-sleuth to find out who was responsible. Has there ever been any "poo yai" done time in this banana republic?

Yet again, the swift wheels of injustice make this country look like a joke.I don't think things will ever change.

[Papa_Lazarou]

You wouldn't think these people would go to the firing squad without confessing who paid them, but I suppose they're worried for the sake of their families.

Edited September 5, 2006 by Papa_Lazarou

[linglop]

Death penalty for Michael Wansley's murderers

Criminal Court delivered death penalties on two men on Tuesday for murdering an Australian auditor, Michael Wansley in Nakhon Sawan province in 1999.

The Court found that Somchoke Suthiviriwan and Sompong Buasakoon guilty of planned murder Wansley in March 1999.

Wansley, 58 at the time of his death, was travelling to a sugar mill in Nakhon Sawan when two men on a motorcycle pulled alongside his van and shot him dead.

Wansley, an employee of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, had been hired by the banking creditors of the Kaset Thai Sugar Co to help address the firm's Bt17.1-billion debt.

The Court acquitted the mill's owner, Pradit Siriviriyakul, who was initially charged with masterminding the murder because of lack of evidence.

Australia had complained in 2003 of what it called tardiness in the slow investigations and trial into the murder. At that time, police was still only at the stage of interrogating state witness.

Source: The Nation - 5 September 2006

[sriracha john]

A thaivisa chronicle of events surrounding this case:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?ac...Michael+Wansley

It has been a long time coming.

[linglop]

Death penalty for Michael Wansley's murderers

Criminal Court delivered death penalties on two men on Tuesday for murdering an Australian auditor, Michael Wansley in Nakhon Sawan province in 1999.

The Court found that Somchoke Suthiviriwan and Sompong Buasakoon guilty of planned murder Wansley in March 1999.

Wansley, 58 at the time of his death, was travelling to a sugar mill in Nakhon Sawan when two men on a motorcycle pulled alongside his van and shot him dead.

Wansley, an employee of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, had been hired by the banking creditors of the Kaset Thai Sugar Co to help address the firm's Bt17.1-billion debt.

The Court acquitted the mill's owner, Pradit Siriviriyakul, who was initially charged with masterminding the murder because of lack of evidence..

Australia had complained in 2003 of what it called tardiness in the slow investigations and trial into the murder. At that time, police was still only at the stage of interrogating state witness.

Source: The Nation - 5 September 2006

So once again the mastermind of this murder gets off scot free. Neither Deloittes nor the New Zealand Government come out shining.

Michael, you will be missed and not forgotten.

[Scott]

If the case would have taken much longer, they would have died of old age!

And no, important people don't go to jail. The first time I've ever seen such a thing here was when the Election Commission members went to jail. I was shocked. It's a start toward a reasonable justice system, but there's still a ways to go.

[terry57]

the 2 dudes that are the shooters will pay with there lives and i ant got no problem with that.

there's heaps of hit men in los for hire so these 2 wont matter to things.

big boys keep on paying for hits and its business as usual.

moral of the story is " dont play games in los "

as you lose.

cheers friends

[terry57]

punters,

our friend was not playing games, as i was refering to other general matters of farang behavior.

our friend was doing a business investigation into a company involving law.

i wonder if anybody warned him before hand of the very real danger he faced getting involved in this sort of investigation.

they could not pay me enough money to front up for this work.

any way

R. I. P.

[Papa_Lazarou]

Pity he didn't listen to Terry's words of wisdom before going and getting himself wacked.

[Jai Dee]

Two sentenced to death for 1999 murder of Aussie auditor in Thailand

BANGKOK (AP) - A Thai court sentenced two men to death and one to life imprisonment Tuesday for the 1999 murder of an Australian auditor, who was slain by a hired gunman after uncovering alleged fraud at a sugar mill.

Michael Wansley, 58, was traveling to a sugar mill in northern Thailand on March 10, 1999 when two men on a motorcycle pulled alongside his van and shot him.

It was the first murder of a foreign executive in Thailand and cast a pall over the international business community, which had been called on to deal with the corporate wreckage left by the Asian economic crisis of 1997.

In a much-delayed verdict, the court convicted two men to death: a retired police officer, Sompong Buasakul, who killed Wansley and a company employee, Somchoke Sutheevirawan, who drove the getaway motorcycle.

Another company executive, Boonphan Sutheevirawan, the mill's human resources manager and a failed political candidate, was sentenced to life imprisonment for conspiring to kill Wansley. Boonphan and Somchoke are brothers.

The court acquitted Pradit Siriviriyakul, the company's managing director, saying there was no evidence to back up accusations of his involvement.

The three executives had allegedly plotted the killing because Wansley had uncovered financial wrongdoing at their sugar company.

Wansley, an employee of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, had been hired by the banking creditors of the Kaset Thai Sugar Co. to help deal with the company's dlrs 450 million debt (16 billion baht at the time).

Source: Malaysian Star - 5 September 2006

[kmart]

punters,

our friend was not playing games, as i was refering to other general matters of farang behavior.

our friend was doing a business investigation into a company involving law.

i wonder if anybody warned him before hand of the very real danger he faced getting involved in this sort of investigation.

they could not pay me enough money to front up for this work.

any way

R. I. P.

Terry, the guy was a professional accountant brought in to sort out an ailing company, by an international large financial company. It would have been a plum job back in his home country.

He would have had no idea of the murky ethics and massive corruption involved.

link; brief background

The mill owner (and his family) knew he was too close to the missing millions and had him whacked for doing his job. Why? Because they could and evidently still can.

I remember going in to the TPI factories in Rayong during a time when a team of foreign planners had been approved to restructure the crippling debts incurred by the owner's profligacy and arrogance. There was obscene Nationalistic, anti-foreigner slogans painted everywhere, and total hostility from staff and supposedly mediatory security staff. I wasn't even involved in any financial work, just engineering. It was a terrible atmosphere of Thais being whipped up into nationalistic fervour by a self-serving guy trying to save his own financial skin. The message still seems to be that its ok to kill the messenger. *pukes*

Edited September 5, 2006 by kmart

[cclub75]

This shows the harsh reality of business in Thailand.

This is why I think it's difficult to be optimistic regarding the "legal actions" with Thaksin.

No way a thai judge would put his life at risk by convincting such a powerfull man...

[raro]

I remember this murder pretty well, a friend of mine was bidding for the same job but Deloitte got the contract...

[terry57]

punters,

our friend was not playing games, as i was refering to other general matters of farang behavior.

our friend was doing a business investigation into a company involving law.

i wonder if anybody warned him before hand of the very real danger he faced getting involved in this sort of investigation.

they could not pay me enough money to front up for this work.

any way

R. I. P.

Terry, the guy was a professional accountant brought in to sort out an ailing company, by an international large financial company. It would have been a plum job back in his home country.

He would have had no idea of the murky ethics and massive corruption involved.

link; brief background

The mill owner (and his family) knew he was too close to the missing millions and had him whacked for doing his job. Why? Because they could and evidently still can.

I remember going in to the TPI factories in Rayong during a time when a team of foreign planners had been approved to restructure the crippling debts incurred by the owner's profligacy and arrogance. There was obscene Nationalistic, anti-foreigner slogans painted everywhere, and total hostility from staff and supposedly mediatory security staff. I wasn't even involved in any financial work, just engineering. It was a terrible atmosphere of Thais being whipped up into nationalistic fervour by a self-serving guy trying to save his own financial skin. The message still seems to be that its ok to kill the messenger. *pukes*

yes my friend,

you must steer well clear from anything concerning the above matter.

this guy would of been doing his investigation like he was back home, unaware or may be not taking this threat seriously.

unfortunatly i talk from experience, as i had a thai partner assasinated by the mafia.

but that is a whole new thread.

cheers friend

[Spenthouse]

I remember going in to the TPI factories in Rayong during a time when a team of foreign planners had been approved to restructure the crippling debts incurred by the owner's profligacy and arrogance.

if i remember correctly, those "effective" planners were subsequently arrested for working at a place not specified in their work permit because the registered office of their firm was in bangkok! did anyone go to jail yet in the tpi scandal?

[sriracha john]

I remember going in to the TPI factories in Rayong during a time when a team of foreign planners had been approved to restructure the crippling debts incurred by the owner's profligacy and arrogance.

if i remember correctly, those "effective" planners were subsequently arrested for working at a place not specified in their work permit because the registered office of their firm was in bangkok! did anyone go to jail yet in the tpi scandal?

Rather than go to jail, he's opting to try and become the next Prime Minister:

Prachai ready to take on Thaksin

TPI Founder Prachai Leophairatana, secretary-general of Pracharaj Party, announced on Sunday that he is ready to become the next prime minister if his party wins the next general election.

“The popular question is who is good enough to replace Thaksin?” Prachai, pictured, said during his party seminar at Srinakharinwirot University. “The answer is I am ready to be prime minister, a better and more righteous one than he is.”

- Business Day

August 6, 2006

[kmart]

I remember going in to the TPI factories in Rayong during a time when a team of foreign planners had been approved to restructure the crippling debts incurred by the owner's profligacy and arrogance.

if i remember correctly, those "effective" planners were subsequently arrested for working at a place not specified in their work permit because the registered office of their firm was in bangkok! did anyone go to jail yet in the tpi scandal?

The former owner Prachai was relieved of all control of day to day operations. The place is a monstrosity of waste and bad management; but seems to be getting better, and a lot of "dead wood" has been cleared out recently. Some of the plants inside the vast TPI complex are very profitable indeed.

As far as I know, nobody went to jail. There were a few contract killings and bomb hoaxes, but nothing out of the ordinary. Effective Planners were hardly ever what their company name promised, and were just a "patsy" brought in to shore up investor / creditor confidence.

[kmart]

I remember going in to the TPI factories in Rayong during a time when a team of foreign planners had been approved to restructure the crippling debts incurred by the owner's profligacy and arrogance.

if i remember correctly, those "effective" planners were subsequently arrested for working at a place not specified in their work permit because the registered office of their firm was in bangkok! did anyone go to jail yet in the tpi scandal?

Rather than go to jail, he's opting to try and become the next Prime Minister:

Prachai ready to take on Thaksin

TPI Founder Prachai Leophairatana, secretary-general of Pracharaj Party, announced on Sunday that he is ready to become the next prime minister if his party wins the next general election.

“The popular question is who is good enough to replace Thaksin?” Prachai, pictured, said during his party seminar at Srinakharinwirot University. “The answer is I am ready to be prime minister, a better and more righteous one than he is.”

- Business Day

August 6, 2006

Nooooooooo,........

At least Tacky's "CEO Style" of flawed leadership is based on his being rather successful in business.

Whereas,.....

[sriracha john]

The face of a conspirator:

Boonpan Suthiwiriwan arrives at a Bangkok court September 5, 2006. A Thai court sentenced two Thai men to death and another to life in prison on Tuesday for the 1999 murder of an Australian accountant while he was restructuring the debt of a Thai sugar mill. The court acquitted mill director Pradit Siriwiriyakul of hiring gunmen to kill Michael Wansley, 58, from Melbourne, who prosecutors said had uncovered the disappearance of large sums of money supposed to have been paid to cane farmers. REUTERS

Edited September 5, 2006 by sriracha john

[Steph1012]

Is it better the devil you know then??

[Camelot]

In this particular case, Yes.

[Scott]

The killing of Mr. W set a new low for Thailand--being an accountant is not exactly a high risk job in most places in the world--except Thailand.

Here, the truth can cost you your life.

[sriracha john]

Appeal call in case of murdered Australian

Prosecutors in Thailand are expected to appeal against the acquittal of a company director accused of arranging the murder of an Australian auditor.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu auditor Michael Wansley, 58, was gunned down in March 1999 as he rode in a van on his way to the Namtal Kaset Thai sugar mill in central Thailand.

He had been investigating outstanding debts at the company's sugar mill in Nakhorn Sawan province.

Sugar mill owner, Pradit Siriviriyakul, had been charged with hiring the gunman to murder Mr Wansley, but was acquitted for lack of evidence.

Senior manager with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Jaiyos (Thailand) Marasee Kanjanataweewat, said the firm would be backing an appeal.

There would be an appeal within a month, Ms Marasee said.

Thai police also said they would support a prosecution appeal.

On March 10, 1999, Mr Wansley was travelling from Bangkok for a meeting at the mill when a gunman riding pillion drove by the van.

At least six gunshots hit Mr Wansley, who died soon after.

A Thai criminal court last week sentenced two men to death and a third to life in jail over the incident.

All have said they will appeal the guilty verdicts.

The Australian Government had made repeated representations to Thailand during the case and Deloitte had appointed former National Party leader Tim Fischer as an adviser.

- news.com.au

[stumonster]

Thai Justice and the competence of its police have been highlighted again

Man acquitted of gunning down Aussie

A THAI court has acquitted a man accused of the execution-style murder of an Australian auditor who had been fighting to recover hundreds of millions of dollars owed by a local sugar mill.

Michael Wansley was shot eight times as he and other staff members from the accounting firm Deloittes Touche Tohmatsu arrived for a meeting with mill managers on March 10, 1999.

Wansley, known for his tough negotiating style, had been hired by Thai banks to settle $US450 million ($469.6 million) in debts owed by the Kaset Thai Sugar Co, arising from the Asian financial crisis.

Witnesses had told police he had uncovered fraud during his investigation of the accounts, and had received death threats.

Pichet Kaewsamduang, alias Sor Thaksin, was identified by others implicated in the crime as the gunman who rode as a pillion passenger on a motorcycle and gunned Wansley down at Nakhon Sawan, in central Thailand.

He fled to Malaysia but returned to Thailand in August 2002 and was arrested.

Mr Pichet was identified as the gunman by the motorcycle driver and a staff member of the mill.

But a Thai court has acquitted him, after discounting their testimony because they were accomplices to the murder.

No one else at the scene has been able to identify the killer.

The court also cited conflicting evidence about the time of the murder.

Thai prosecutors have said they will appeal Mr Pichet's acquittal. In the meantime, he remains in custody.

A spokesman for the Australian Embassy in Bangkok expressed disappointment over the decision.

full story

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...9-12377,00.html

Edited July 25, 2008 by stumonster

[TAWP]

"But a Thai court has acquitted him, after discounting their testimony because they were accomplices to the murder."

Defies all logic...

[cloudhopper]

Outrageous.

[Old Man River]

This shows the harsh reality of business in Thailand.

This is why I think it's difficult to be optimistic regarding the "legal actions" with Thaksin.

No way a thai judge would put his life at risk by convincting such a powerfull man...

CClub75, you were correct then, and most probably still spot on.