Thai court issues a new arrest warrant for ‘Boss’ Yoovidhya

A new arrest warrant has been issued for Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya over the fatal crash in 2012 where he allegedly ran over and killed a 47 year old police officer. The grandson of the co-founder of the Red Bull empire is facing charges of reckless driving, refusing to help an injured person and possessing illicit drugs (cocaine).

The court recently reviewed new evidence in the case, according to the deputy assistant to the national police chief.

“We will arrest him as soon as he returns to Thailand.”

The Office of the Attorney General controversially dropped charges against 35 year old Vorayuth in July, saying that they didn’t have enough evidence to move forward with legal action.

Since Boss in not in the country, police will issue a new Interpol Red Notice, requesting law enforcement outside of Thailand to help arrest the Red Bull heir.

Vorayut is understood to reside overseas, probably in the UK, having fled Thailand in 2017 just 3 days before a scheduled appearance in court. He had avoided a court appearance 8 times before. He fled the country in the family private jet and abandoned it in Singapore.

Thai laws permits the police to file a new round of charges as long as the investigators can convince the court they have new evidence to present to the court.

Police have not specified what constitutes as the “fresh evidence” that led to the new arrest warrant, but a committee convened by the police reviving the investigation, received a new eyewitness account that Vorayuth was driving as fast as 170 kilometres per hour when he crashed into the back of the policeman’s bike in his silver Ferrari in September 2012.

The previous set of investigators from the Office of the Attorney General identified Vorayuth’s speed at the time of accident as only 80 kilometres per hour. The dismissal of charges from the OAG caused an outcry in Thai social media and the intervention of the Thai PM to instruct police to re-open the investigation.

There has been no immediate reaction from the Yoovidhya family or Boss’s legal team.

SOURCE: Khaosod English