The Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Thanath Narongkool, a prominent businessman, in a case involving copyright infringement and money laundering linked to an online movie website, with damages totaling 4.5 billion baht.
On 26 Jan, it was reported that on 22 Jan the Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Thanath Narongkool, CEO of Titan Capital Group Holdings Co., Ltd., on charges of conspiracy involving two or more persons to commit money laundering, and committing money laundering due to this conspiracy, following a petition from investigators at the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
The reasons include: 1. The suspect has committed or is likely to have committed a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment exceeding three years. 2. The suspect has committed or is likely to have committed a criminal offense and there is reasonable belief they may flee or have no fixed residence. The DSI investigators are authorized to arrest and bring the suspect to the DSI within the 15-year statute of limitations.
Thanath allegedly operated an online gambling website which he advertised on websites showing movies that infringe copyrights. Evidence suggests that Thanath and associates jointly committed intellectual property infringement for commercial purposes, which is a predicate offense under the Anti-Money Laundering Act B.E. 2542 (1999), sections 3(13), 5, 9, and 60. The total damages are valued at 4,518,790,200 baht.