On October 10 local time, Thai police carried out simultaneous operations in several high-end residential areas of Bangkok. The police seized 94 apartment units under the names of 95 companies. The value of the related properties and land is estimated to be about 6 billion Thai baht (approximately 1.2 billion RMB).
According to police reports, 95 cases involve 96 foreign suspects and 156 Thai-related individuals. The police have obtained 86 arrest warrants for foreign nationals. Currently, 11 people have been arrested, including 10 Chinese nationals and 1 American citizen.
The properties involved are located in high-value areas of Bangkok. 94 residential properties with land were seized, and the estimated value of these properties and land is about 6 billion Thai baht (approximately 1.2 billion RMB). Roughly calculated based on the total valuation, the average value of each property is approximately 63.8 million Thai baht (about 12.73 million RMB).
The police also found that several houses were rented at a rate of up to 350,000 Thai bahts per month (approximately 70,000 yuan). As more investigations have been conducted, some relevant individuals appear to have left the country, and some houses have remained unrented for more than three months.
The police investigation suggests that someone obtained a ready-made company through a real estate agent or corporate service agency. The company was structured with 51% ownership by Thai shareholders and 49% by foreign shareholders. The company is ostensibly owned by a Thai company; the police are investigating who actually paid for the property, who controls the company, who benefits from the property, and whether the company has any legitimate business activities.
The 156 Thai-related individuals involved in the case are key to the next investigation steps.
Some Thai nationals said that they submitted copies of their ID cards and household registration documents when applying for online loans. Only later did they realize that their personal information had been used to register companies. They claimed that they had never met the relevant foreign individuals, and had no knowledge that they had become shareholders of the company.
The police will rely on communication records, company documents, financial flows, and digital traces to determine which individuals are actively involved and which individuals may be used under false pretenses.
The structure with Thai shareholders accounting for 51% and foreign shareholders accounting for 49% cannot alone prove any illegality. To determine whether it is an illegal nominee holding, it is also necessary to see whether the Thai shareholders have made actual contributions, are involved in operations, who controls the company, to whom the profits go, and whether the company exists merely as a shell for holding land.
Before this round of operations, the Thai police have completed 7 related investigations, examining 297 companies and 309 plots of land, with an estimated value of approximately 3.039 billion Thai baht (approximately 606 million RMB). The police obtained 238 arrest warrants, arrested 118 people, and 20 cases have been judged by court.
The valuation of the locked-up assets in this round is approximately 6 billion Thai baht (about 1.2 billion RMB), which is nearly twice the cumulative valuation of the previous seven rounds. Both figures come from estimates published by the police, but they are still sufficient to indicate the scale of this operation.
Currently, the case is still in the investigation and legal proceedings stage, and the final disposition of the 94 sets of residential properties has not been fully determined.
Thai police emphasized that the objective of this operation is not to prevent normal foreign investment, but to combat activities that use Thai citizens as fronts to circumvent laws.
For people in Thailand, do not easily believe the marketing claims that "company holding" is a risk-free way to buy houses. When planning to purchase a residence with land, it is necessary to verify the registered owner of the land, the actual operations of the company, the sources of shareholder contributions, and the arrangements for control and benefits. If a company holding structure has been adopted, it is also advisable to find lawyers and accountants who are independent of the original transaction to conduct an independent review.
