Thai Billionaire Prasert Banned From Positions in Listed Firms

(Bloomberg) -- Bangkok Airways Pcl Chief Executive Officer Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth has been banned from holding director and executive positions in listed companies in Thailand for manipulating the share price of the airline.

Civil sanctions have been imposed on Prasert and his daughter, Poramaporn Prasarttong-Osoth, the chief operating officer at Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Pcl, as well as Narumon Chainaknan, the executive secretary in the CEO’s office at Bangkok Airways, the Securities & Exchange Commission said in statement on its website dated Friday.

They have been ordered to pay a fine of 499 million baht ($15.7 million) for “concealing their trading activities” in Bangkok Airways’ shares to mislead the public regarding the carrier’s stock price and volumes, the Thai regulator said. The transactions took place between November 2015 and January 2016, it said.

Prasert is also the chief executive officer of Bangkok Dusit Medical, the nation’s biggest private hospital operator. He owns an 18.5 percent stake in the medical company valued at $2.1 billion, making him its biggest shareholder, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. He also owns 10.8 percent of Bangkok Airways.

Nobody picked up calls to the investor relations departments of Bangkok Airways and Bangkok Dusit on Saturday.

Thai regulators have stepped up oversight of executives at listed firms.

The SEC will forward the proposed fines to public prosecutors to seek court orders for payment if Prasert and the other two people refuse to comply, it said in the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anuchit Nguyen in Bangkok at anguyen@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Andrew Janes, Sunil Jagtiani

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