Thailand indicts fugitive medical tycoon for $480 mln fraud

Thai prosecutors on Friday formally indicted a fugitive 86-year-old healthcare tycoon for loan fraud worth $480 million, officials said.

Boon Vanasin, the former chairman of private healthcare provider Thonburi Healthcare Group (THG), is accused of defrauding individuals of 16 billion baht ($480 million) over more than a decade, according to prosecutors.

“It is agreed to indict Boon Vanasin, the first suspect, for loan fraud,” the attorney-general said in a statement.

Police told AFP last year they believed the doctor had fled Thailand, and had requested an Interpol Red Notice for his arrest.

The attorney-general’s office said it had instructed the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to bring Boon to justice “within 15 years, before the case reaches its statute of limitations.”

His ex-wife and daughter, both THG directors, were arrested last year alongside six others on fraud and money laundering charges.

In 2022, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission fined Boon 2.3 million baht ($66,000) for misleading investors in 2021 over THG’s ability to procure millions of Pfizer mRNA Covid-19 vaccines.

An investigation found that THG had not signed a contract with Pfizer.

Prosecutors said they would pursue the case vigorously, citing “the large number of people affected.”

Boon’s whereabouts remain unknown, but local media reports said he fled to China.