Prosecutors have delayed the court proceedings against billionaire property magnate Anant Asavabhokhin on money laundering charges related to the decade-old Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative (KCUC) embezzlement scandal, as he has reportedly fallen into a coma, according to a source.
Anant Asavabhokhin, 73, the founder and former chairman of Land & Houses Plc, has experienced severe complications after undergoing a kidney transplant, a source who wished to remain anonymous mentioned.
For years, the legal proceedings against Mr. Anant remained inactive until his indictment on February 16 of this year for money laundering.
Initially, in 2019, the Department of Special Investigation recommended prosecuting Mr. Anant, but the Office of the Attorney-General dismissed the report and ignored subsequent appeals from the DSI for reconsideration.
Throughout this period, Mr. Anant was obligated to check in with prosecutors every three months while awaiting a decision on his indictment.
Mr. Anant was due to appear in Criminal Court on April 2 to respond to the charges but did not show up, prompting his attorney to request a deferral, providing a medical certificate as proof.
Additional court dates in May and June were also deferred, until prosecutors commanded the Criminal Money Laundering Division to verify the authenticity of Mr. Anant’s health issues. Investigations revealed that Mr. Anant is battling end-stage renal failure.
The source stated that Mr. Anant had a kidney transplant in Australia, which his body is now rejecting, necessitating dialysis three times a week until he can undergo another transplant.
Currently, a new transplant is not possible due to other health issues including heart failure, a brain hemorrhage, and unstable immune system function.
He must remain in a sterile setting to avoid potential infections that could be fatal, according to the source.
The Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative scandal, dating back to 2012, ranks among the largest embezzlement cases in the country’s history.
The investigation uncovered that its former chairman, Supachai Srisupa-aksorn, issued a total of 878 cheques to misappropriate 12 billion baht from members’ savings. He is currently serving a 16-year prison term.
Some of the embezzled funds ended up in Wat Phra Dhammakaya, a rich and controversial temple where Mr. Anant has been a longtime devotee.
Supachai also redirected some of the stolen funds to acquire a real estate company that owned a large tract of land in Pathum Thani.
Some of the land was later sold to Land & Houses, under Mr. Anant’s chairmanship, as DSI findings revealed.
A separate probe by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) exposed intricate transactions linking Mr. Anant with Phra Dhammachayo, the fugitive former abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya.
It was disclosed that donations to the temple were funded by nearly 500 million baht made from reselling the land, originally purchased for 93.8 million baht, according to investigators.
