Santi Promphat, former deputy public health minister and deputy Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) leader, denied any involvement in the Social Security Office's (SSO) controversial purchase of the SKYY9 Centre on Rama IX Road.
He was responding to questions raised about the role of his son, Pattana Promphat, an executive at Watergate Pavilion Co, which bought the building in 2017 and resold it to another company, which later sold it to the SSO trust for about 7 billion baht.
Mr Santi on Thursday claimed he had never talked to Suchart Chomklin, a former member of the PPRP, even while they were members of the same party.
Mr Suchart, who is now a deputy commerce minister, was serving as labour minister around the time the SSO allegedly forked out about 7 billion baht from the Social Security Fund's coffers to buy the building.
The SSO falls under the Ministry of Labour.
On Tuesday, Mr Suchart had his lawyer file a defamation lawsuit against two People's Party (PP) MPs who publicly accused him of possible involvement in the deal to purchase it, demanding 50 million baht in damages.
Mr Santi meanwhile claimed he did not know the SSO was interested in buying the building back then, insisting there was no secret political deal [behind the deal] as said in the news.
He also denied any involvement with AGRE 101 Co, which bought the building from his son's company for 2 billion baht before reselling it to the SSO trust.
Mr Santi confirmed rumours that the SKYY9 building was proposed to be the PPRP headquarters before some foreign investors offered to buy the building, and his son, Mr Pattana, decided to sell it instead.
According to Mr Pattana, AGRE 101 Co was one of several companies interested in buying the building in 2019, two years after his company, Watergate Pavilion Co, bought it from Bangkok Commercial Asset Management (BAM).
Neither he nor his company was involved with AGRE 101 Co's re-selling of the building later on, he said, adding he was not aware the building changed hands to any other party until he learned recently from the news about controversies surrounding the SSO's purchase of the building.
Despite having said he believed the building had potential given its prime location, he declined to comment on whether the 7-billion-baht purchase by the SSO was reasonable or if there was any political interference in the deal.