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Officials raid Tranlee-related island resort off Phuket

Officials raid Tranlee-related island resort off Phuket

PHUKET: Military personnel and officials from the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) arrived on Koh Yao Yai island, east of Phuket, in force on Saturday (July 30) to investigate Blue Bay Resort.

Chinesetourismlandpropertycrimepolice
By Darawan Naknakhon

Monday 1 August 2016 04:02 PM


 

The resort is one of 16 subsidiaries of Tranlee Travel Co network, which was named last month by Royal Thai Police Deputy Commissioner Gen Srivara Ransibrahmanakul as suspected of illicit dealings. (See story here.)

Officials arriving at the 330-room resort, of which parts are still under construction, were greeted by two men: company representative “Mr Witthaya” and lawyer “Mr Apichat”.

The pair presented to the officers seven NorSor 3 land documents as evidence to the company’s right to occupy the 19 rai that the resort covers.

The men told officials that all 19 rai was bought by shareholders from a partnership in May 2016, and they presented permits for buildings at the site.

Amlo official Piya Sriwik noted that Blue Bay Resort management were co-operating fully with the investigation.

“This resort has agreed to be investigated as a special case by Amlo as it is suspected that the property might have been acquired inappropriately. In the meantime, it is still allowed to operate. We do not want to cause damage to a tourism business,” he said.

“But the resort must send all income accounts to checked by Amlo. This must be done within 90 days. Also, the owners have the right to present any documents in their defence while the investigation is ongoing,” he added.