A businessman has asked Crime Suppression Division police to take action against 29 soldiers, police and local officials for a wide range of charges, including false charges of providing illegal money lending services.
Prasert Pimpaporn, 75, owner of P.S.O. Import (Thailand) Co, accompanied by lawyer Ananchai Chaiyadet, on Tuesday filed a petition with Pol Maj Theeraphot Khongnoo, investigation chief of CSD subdivision 5, against the 29 state officials.
Mr Prasert accused the officials of allegedly filing false statements in violation of Sections 172, 173 and 174 of the Criminal Code, illegal detention, malfeasance and negligence of their duties and other related offences.
His lawyer said the charges came after a group of about 100 state officials — soldiers, immigration police, officials from Samut Sakhon employment office and local police — had allegedly raided Mr Prasert’s tyre factory in Samut Sakhon on July 11. No search warrant was produced. They claimed the factory had hired illegal migrant workers.
The officials also told Mr Prasert that he had an arrest warrant issued by the Hua Hin provincial court on July 5 for charges involving illegal money lending with high interest rates, according to the lawyer.
Members of the team had forced Mr Prasert to open his safe and threatened to illegally detain him for seven days if he resisted.
Mr Prasert had opened the safe, containing title deeds and other documents.The officials had seized 52 land title deeds.
During the raid, a senior military officer had held talks with Mr Prasert and told him that the arrest warrant followed a complaint by Wanreudee Sakulchartsrisa-ard, who accused him of allegedly providing lending services with interest rates higher than the legal limit. Ms Wanreudee had borrowed 18 million baht from Mr Prasert.
The senior officer alllegedly asked him to lower the interest of 4.5 million baht owed by Ms Wanruedee to about 2 million baht.
Mr Ananchai claimed the raid was aimed at forcing Mr Prasert to lower the debt Ms Wanreudee owed his client. The Hua Hin court warrant was used as a tool but no arrest was made, said the lawyer.
Mr Prasert told CSD police that Ms Wanreudee had earlier persuaded him to invest in the Rassamee housing estate project, promising a return of 15% a year. The woman also borrowed from him 15 million baht and signed a loan contract with an interest rate of 15% a year.
Mr Prasert insisted he had run a car tyre businessa and did not provide illegal money lending services as alleged.
The raid and false statements that he was a loan shark had cast him in a negative light and damaged his reputation, he said.
Pol Maj Theeraphot accepted the petition and said he would forward it to the National Anti-Corruption Commission for investigation as the 29 accused people named in the petition were state officials.
