Politician Samart Janechaijittawanich denied laundering money in relation to millions of baht he received from The iCon Group, the direct sales company being prosecuted for alleged public fraud, saying the sums were loans and donations, according to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
DSI director-general Yutthana Praedam said on Tuesday that Mr Samart denied the money-laundering charge during his interrogation at the DSI in Bangkok on Monday night and he promised to file a written statement to prove his innocence in 15 days.
Mr Samart and his previously arrested mother Wilawan insisted that 3 million baht they received from The iCon Group were loans and donations. Of the sum, 2.5 million baht was from The iCon chief executive officer Warathaphon Waratyaworrakul.
The DSI found that Mr Samart used a bank account belonging to his mother. The account received about 100 million baht from different sources which the DSI were probing, Pol Maj Yutthana said. The 3-million-baht money was a part of the 100-million-baht total.
According to Pol Maj Yutthana, Mr Samart was arrested at a temple in the northernmost province of Chiang Rai on Monday and brought to the DSI at about 11pm on the same day.
There was no evidence that the suspect was trying to flee the country. The suspect told DSI officials that he was making merit at the temple where he was arrested.
The money that Mr Samart, 41, received from The iCon Group direct sales company came from fundraising from The iCon Group members, the DSI chief said on Monday. The company is being prosecuted for alleged public fraud.
The Criminal Court on Sunday issued a warrant for the arrest of Mr Samart, who is a former deputy spokesman of the Palang Pracharath Party.
Mr Samart became embroiled in The iCon Group scandal following the release of an audio clip allegedly featuring a conversation between the CEO and founder of The iCon Group, and a non-MP House committee member who offered to help clear a complaint in exchange for money.