MALAYSIAN and Thai officials have agreed that any future request for “evidence and information” on a Malaysian company accused of running a transnational crime syndicate in Thailand will be made through the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.

The decision to utilise the formal channel was made following a meeting of high-powered enforcement officials from the two countries in Kuala Lumpur from July 25 to 27.

“Malaysian officials are supportive of our investigations (into the company) and willing to assist us,” a high-ranking source in the Thai enforcement agency told Bernama when asked about an update on the meeting.

He said the meeting saw the Thai side forwarding a request for specific “evidence and information” regarding the allegations surrounding the Malaysian company in Thailand.

The source declined to disclose details on the “evidence and information” requested, but said it was vital to the outcome of investigations.

The meeting signalled Thai authorities’ commitment and urgency to wrap up more than a year of investigations into the company, said to be conducting dubious business operations in the kingdom.

The Penang-based company, which has wide-ranging business interests in the kingdom, especially in the southern Thailand towns of Hatyai and Danok, has also come under scrutiny by Malaysian authorities for operating a questionable finance scheme.

In the meeting, the Thai delegation was represented by officers from the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), Department of Special Investigation, Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) and Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB).

The source said Thailand’s Attorney-General’s Office would be the main agency to deal with the Malaysian side in the request for “evidence and information”.

He said there was no plan at the moment for additional meetings with Malaysia.

He added that AMLO was expected to be the first enforcement agency to officially press money-laundering charges against the company, followed by other Thai enforcement agencies upon the completion of their investigations.

Bernama was made to understand that NSB and ONCB are investigating allegations of possible links between the company and the cross-border narcotics trade, following the arrest of a Malaysian member of a drug syndicate.

The man was arrested at the Sadao border checkpoint last year with hundreds of kilogrammes of methamphetamine.

Malaysian authorities, in recent months, have raided the company’s premises, located all over the country, and frozen 91 bank accounts linked to the company, with funds totalling RM177 million. – Bernama, August 11, 2017.