Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a criminal complaint with the Economic Crime Suppression Division against Mr Jakchai Sakunekphaisan for alleged manipulation of the prices and/or trading volumes of shares in Patkol Public Company Limited (PK), T. Krungthai Industries Public Company Limited (TKT) and Prosper Engineering Public Company Limited (PROS). The SEC also reported the matter to the Anti-Money Laundering Office. The case followed a referral from the Stock Exchange of Thailand in September 2024 and the SEC’s subsequent investigation, which found reasonable grounds to believe that the conduct occurred in PK shares during 10–11 April 2024, TKT shares during 24–25 April 2024 and PROS shares during 10–13 May 2024. The SEC described conduct including placing buy and sell orders to push prices upward, layering buy orders to obstruct other investors’ orders, and placing buy orders during pre-opening and pre-closing periods to influence opening or closing prices, which allegedly misled the public and caused trading conditions to deviate from normal. The SEC cited violations of Section 244/3 (1) and (2) in conjunction with Section 244/5 of the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535 (1992), subject to penalties under Sections 296, 296/1 and 296/2. The criminal process is expected to proceed through inquiry, prosecution and court adjudication, with the SEC monitoring progress and cooperating with relevant agencies; the AMLO notification reflects the SEC’s view that the offences are predicate offences under the Anti-Money Laundering Act B.E. 2542 (1999).

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