The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has called for prosecutors to bring a case against Suphanan Rittiphairoj, the former chief executive of embattled Inter Far East Energy Corporation Plc (IFEC), in civil court after he refused to plead guilty.
The SEC is requesting the court punish Mr Suphanan with the maximum penalty comprising a 1-million-baht fine, a five-year prohibition from trading securities and derivatives, a 10-year ban from being an executive or director of listed or securities companies, and compensation worth 110,042 baht plus 7.5% interest for the SEC's investigation costs, the SEC said in a release.
The SEC imposed a civil penalty on Mr Suphanan on grounds of negligence of duty and dishonesty after he was reported by IFEC's shareholders for obstructing the process of setting up a shareholders' meeting on May 23 to select new directors to fill vacant positions.
His action violated Section 83 of the Public Limited Company Act of 1992 and blocked IFEC from resuming its normal business operations, the SEC said.
Mr Suphanan also delayed the process of selecting new IFEC directors by refusing to disclose the resolution of IFEC's board of directors meeting to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, while IFEC management has refused to accept the nomination of new directors on qualification grounds.
