Srettha defends former firm’s land purchase

Srettha Thavisin, the prime ministerial candidate of the Pheu Thai Party, said on Wednesday that the property developer he formerly headed, Sansiri Plc, bought a land plot in inner Bangkok transparently at its market price.

He was responding to what SET-listed Sansiri has called “deliberate misinformation” spread by whistleblower Chuvit Kamolvisit that it made an illegal land purchase using nominees for its Khun by Yoo luxury condominium.

Mr Chuvit, a former massage parlour tycoon and politician, made the allegation on Tuesday. It was the second claim he had made about malfeasance at Sansiri while Mr Srettha served as its chief executive.

Mr Chuvit has claimed that unethical corporate behaviour allegedly approved by Mr Srettha made him an unsuitable candidate for prime minister. He is expected to be nominated in parliament by the Pheu Thai Party to head a new coalition government within the next few days.

Mr Chuvit alleged that Sansiri used a company in which a housekeeper and a security guard were the shareholders to purchase land in the Thong Lor area of Bangkok in 2016. He said the nominee company took out a 1-billion-baht loan to pay a landowner 565 million baht for the land. No one appears to know what the rest of money was spent on, he added.

The land plot was purchased at 1.1 million baht per square wah, which was its market price, Mr Srettha wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

In a statement to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, Sansiri also rejected allegations that the price paid to the seller, N&N Asset Co Ltd, had been misstated. The price of 955 million baht, or 1.1 million baht per square wah, reflected prevailing market values for the area, it added.

“It has been suggested that Sansiri purchased this plot of land at an inflated price and should have only paid 565 million baht for the plot, or 650,000 baht per square wah. This suggestion is baseless,” the statement said. “No landowners in Thong Lor would sell at this price.”

Mr Srettha also said that his three-decade-long management of Sansiri had been recognised for good corporate governance and he welcomed any investigation that was based on facts and good intentions.

On Tuesday, Mr Chuvit claimed that the name of a housekeeper had been used as a previous buyer of the land plot.

The 38-year-old woman, identified only as Pinit, denied her acknowledgement of any land deal. She said she had worked in Bangkok about five years ago and was stunned when she heard her name had been linked to a land transaction.

She denied she had worked as a housekeeper and said that she already informed police in her native province, Maha Sarakham, of her innocence.

Sansiri said its land purchasing procedures conformed to legal requirements. “Every step is transparent and accountable.”

The company also said that its subsidiary, Arnawat Co Ltd, was not an existing creditor of N&N Asset. In its statement to the SET, it attached a copy of the land mortgage contract that it filed with the Department of Land.

Mr Srettha is already suing Mr Chuvit for 500 million baht for defamation over earlier comments made about a land purchase by Sansiri on Sarasin Road in Bangkok.

In that transaction, Mr Chuvit alleged Mr Srettha and Sansiri colluded with the landowners to evade 521 million baht in taxes on the developer’s purchase of the prime site.

Sansiri responded that in any such transaction, the sellers are responsible for paying any taxes and that the company had no influence over their actions.