An audit committee of SET-listed Inter Far Energy Corporation Plc (IFEC) has called for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to intervene in the election of the executive board, saying too many board members have resigned and the remaining members cannot sign off on the company's internal audit.
The announcement comes after the audit committee found that IFEC was unable to give any further information during the audit process.
The root of the problem is a years-long dispute between 30,000 IFEC shareholders and former chairman Wichai Thavornwattanayong.
Committee chairman Chatnarong Chatrabhuti told the media yesterday that the committee has started to probe several allegations.
He said several projects that IFEC purchased and invested in during the last several years of Mr Wichai's chairmanship involved doubtful asset pricing and lack of due diligence.
"For example, the purchase price of the Dhara Dhevi Hotel in Chiang Mai was unreasonable," Mr Chatnarong said.
Moreover, investment projects in wind farms and renewable energy in Cambodia came with an unsound tariff price for selling electricity to state utilities.
Mr Chatnarong said he believes IFEC can actually run its business smoothly and increase margins if the issues raised are cleared up and the company can get a handle on bills of exchange (B/Es) and long-term debt worth a combined 7.5 billion baht.
The dispute came to the public's awareness in late 2014. IFEC's stock has been flagged with a suspension symbol (SP) since December 2016.
The company's balance sheet and financial performance have not been reported to the public since that time.
"We very much intend to recover IFEC's business and restore its normal status, because the company has good fundamentals," Mr Chatnarong said.
Last September, the SEC filed a criminal complaint against Mr Wichai with the Royal Thai Police's Economic Crime Suppression Division for a failure to disclose information about the company's B/E default.
Mr Wichai has also been accused by the SEC of benefiting from refraining to disclose such information, as his IFEC shares worth 57.46 million baht were used as collateral for the company's margin trading and were not subject to a forced selling.
IFEC also fell into financial hardship after rifts among major shareholders that saw the firm default on a series of B/Es.
IFEC defaulted on its debt for the second time in less than a month in May 2016 after failing to pay 200 million baht in B/Es owed to Solaris Asset Management Co.
Earlier, IFEC defaulted on 100 million baht in B/Es owed to Land and Houses Fund Management, a subsidiary of LH Financial Group Plc, that were due in December 2016.
IFEC's creditors have filed a court case against the company, resulting in the failure of the company to submit its financial statements to the SET. As a result, IFEC is at risk of de-listing.
