About 11,000 individual shareholders through their representatives have joined the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in filing complaints against Stark Corp Plc and its former executives for fraud related to falsified financial statements.
The complainants filed their cases with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) on Thursday.
The individual shareholders asked the DSI to quickly arrest the suspects and prevent them from destroying evidence related to the case. The suspects they identified included a major shareholder and former executives of the SET-listed wire and cable manufacturer.
Representatives of the shareholders said they were lured into buying Stark shares by falsified financial statements which led them to believe that the company was growing. They said that more than 10 billion baht was embezzled from the company.
Their purchases helped to push the price of Stark shares to peak at 5.50 baht each with a market capitalisation of about 74 billion baht.
As facts about the doctored financial statements surfaced, the share price plunged to 0.02 baht and the market capitalisation fell to 268 million baht before the Stock Exchange of Thailand suspended trading. The shares are now at risk of being delisted.
The complainants also asked the DSI to quickly impound the assets of Stark and the suspects.
The SEC, meanwhile, has formally filed a complaint with the DSI against 10 suspects.
They include Stark Corp, former chairman Chanin Yensudchai, major shareholder Vonnarat Tangkaravakoon, former director Chinawat Asawaphokee, former chief financial officer Sattha Chansetthalert, Kittisak Chitprasertngam, Phelps Dodge International (Thailand) Co, Thai Cable International Co, Adisorn Songkhla Co and Asia Pacific Drilling Engineering Co.
The SEC accused the suspects of falsifying or approving the falsification of the financial statements of Stark and subsidiaries in 2021 and 2022 for fraud and publicising falsified financial statements.
The regulator also accused them of informing potential buyers that Stark had invested in the German company Leoni Kabel GmbH and an affiliate even though the investment had not been completed.
After Stark received the funds from debenture sales intended to fund the acquisition of the German firms, money was transferred from Stark and subsidiaries to other companies and individuals involved in falsifying the financial statements, the SEC complaint said.
The company last month defaulted on some of its 39 billion baht in liabilities.
The securities regulator has also asked the Anti-Money Laundering Office to take action in the case.
Stark said last week that it was hoping to restructure its debt to stave off a forced delisting, adding that it may ask creditors to swap their debt into equity and try to convince its major creditors not to pursue an accelerated debt payment.
