Nominee Firm Raids in Chiang Mai Target Foreign Land Ownership Evasion

CHIANG MAI: Police and local officials raided 31 companies suspected of being nominee firms under actual foreign ownership and arrested five suspects on Monday. About 250 police and local officials were involved in the operation. Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Samran Nuanma said they searched 31 company premises and files at 18 locations in Chiang Mai. Of the 31 companies, 16 allegedly have Thai proxy shareholders and the other 15 breach foreign shareholding limits. The 31 companies occupy about 20 rai of land worth about 633 million baht. Pol Gen Samran said there were 74 suspects in the case and police had court arrest warrants for 22 - two Thais, seven Myanma, three Indians, one Briton and nine Chinese. On Monday police arrested five of the suspects, two Indians and three Myanma. Some Thai suspects had been detained prior to the raids. One is a man who has been in Chiang Mai Central Prison since 2021. His name was mentioned as a shareholder in two companies. He told police that a former inmate invited him into an investment project and asked for his ID card and house registration document, supposedly for company registration. He said he never received any return from the claimed investment projects. “Police have taken legal action against the shareholders and directors of such companies and are expanding the investigation to catch all the offenders, including the real beneficiaries,” Pol Gen Samran said. Similar operations were planned in Phuket, Krabi, Phangnga, Chon Buri and Surat Thani provinces, he said.