Property tycoon in KCUC embezzlement case to be charged

Property magnate Anant Asavabhokhin is to be charged with money laundering linked to the notorious Khlongchan Credit Union Cooperative (KCUC) embezzlement case.

This development comes from a source within the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG). The money laundering charge, recently approved by Attorney-General Amnat Jedcharoenruk, is predicted to be enacted by the OAG’s special litigation office on April 2.

Anant, former chair of Land and Houses Plc, is scheduled to report to prosecutors on the same day. While his case has been pending, Anant has been required to report to prosecutors every quarter. The case had been stagnant for several years until this latest development emerged yesterday.

In 2019, the case was handed back to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) by Wongsakul Kittipromwong, who was at the time the director-general of the OAG’s special litigation office and a former attorney-general. He recommended that the money laundering case should not be pursued further in court. However, the DSI appealed against this decision. The appeal remained unresolved by the OAG for four years, during which time three attorney-generals were appointed.

The money laundering case at hand relates to three plots of land in the Khlong 2 subdistrict of Khlong Luang district in Pathum Thani. The plots collectively span 312 rai and shares in M-Home SPV 2 Co, acquired by Supachai Srisupa-aksorn, the former KCUC chairman, for 321.4 million baht.

According to National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) investigation findings, Supachai, M-Home SPV 2 Co, and others had signed a contract to sell one of the three plots, measuring 46 rai, to Anant for 93.78 million baht, reported Bangkok Post.

However, Anant later signed a letter of intent to donate the acquired land to Phra Thep Yanamahamuni, also known as Chaiyabul Dhammajayo, the ex-abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, according to the NACC. The land was later resold by Anant to Thai Agro Exchange Co for 492.35 million baht on June 25, 2015.

From the proceeds, 468.73 million baht were later paid to M-Home SPV 2 Co, which subsequently donated about 303 million baht to the Ubasika Chan Khon Nok Yung Thong foundation, connected with Wat Phra Dhammakaya, the NACC reported.