Accountant arrested for 450 million baht tax fraud in Bangkok

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) apprehended an accountant of a steel company involved in a major tax fraud case, who claimed tax credits with fake tax invoices, causing the state a loss of over 450 million baht. The suspect failed to meet the prosecutor’s scheduled appointment yesterday.

DSI Deputy Director Yutthana Praedam received a report from the Director of the Centre for Special Case Investigation and Intelligence, Withawat Sukantarot. They jointly arrested Kittigan, who was wanted under a criminal court warrant for supporting others in evading or attempting to evade value-added tax.

The charges include actions involving fraud, deception, or similar methods, and intentionally using fake or illegally issued tax invoices to claim tax credits under the Revenue Code. The arrest occurred along the roadside in Plubpla Subdistrict, Wang Thonglang District, Bangkok.

This case is classified as a special case by the Taxation Case Division. Kittigan, the accountant for a steel company, used unlawfully issued tax invoices to request tax credits from the Revenue Department 19 times during the tax periods from April 2013 to December 2014. The total financial losses amounted to 449,810,513 baht.

Previously, the special case investigation team forwarded the case file to the prosecutor, who recommended the team proceed with the prosecution. However, Kittigan did not appear before the prosecutor as scheduled. Consequently, the special case investigators sought and obtained an arrest warrant from the criminal court.

Following the arrest, the suspect was taken to the DSI headquarters for further questioning by the Taxation Case Division investigators. The plan is to transfer Kittigan to the prosecutor’s office for special cases to proceed with the criminal court prosecution.

In other news, the Election Commission (EC) has clarified that registering in incorrect professional groups is not necessarily an offence unless there is an intent to deceive officials and the public during the Senate election. This statement was made by EC Secretary-General Sawaeng Boonmee on Facebook yesterday.