Following a referral from the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) in June 2022 and the SEC’s further investigation, the findings and evidence indicated reasonable grounds as follows:  During the period of 2 November 2021 to 25 January 2022, before AQUA publicly disclosed inside information, Mr. Pakorn Mongkoltada , a director of AQUA at the time, knew or possessed material non-public information regarding: (1) the company’s approval to sell ordinary shares of its subsidiary to Plan B Media Public Company Limited (PLANB), and (2) the company’s plan to buy capital ordinary shares of PLANB. This information would likely result in a positive change to AQUA's share price beyond general investors' expectations, and he purchased AQUA shares, using this inside information before the company disclosed it to the SET on 26 January 2022 at 07:48 hours.

The action of Mr. Pakorn Mongkoltada constitutes an offense of purchasing securities while being a person who knew or possessed inside information under Section 242(1), in conjunction with Section 243(1), subject to the penalties under Section 296 and Section 296/2, and civil sanctions under Section 317/4 and Section 317/5 of the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535 (1992).  

The Civil Sanction Committee (CSC) has therefore resolved to impose civil sanctions* on the offender, requiring him to pay a civil penalty, compensation at an equal amount to the benefit received or that would have been received, and a reimbursement of investigative expenses incurred by the SEC, totaling 19,339,187 baht. Additionally, he is barred from serving as director or executive in securities issuing companies or securities companies for a period of 14 months. 

The above barred period of serving as director or executive in securities issuing companies or securities companies will take effect when the offender signs a letter of consent, agreeing to comply with the civil sanctions as imposed by the CSC. In the event that the offender is unwilling to give consent, the SEC will submit the case in writing to the public prosecutor for filing a lawsuit in the Civil Court to seek the maximum applicable civil sanctions, which shall not be lower than those specified by the CSC.   

In all cases, the civil penalties and the compensation for the benefits received or that would have been received from committing offenses shall be remitted to the Ministry of Finance as public revenue.        

Note:
* Section 317/1 of the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535 (1992), as amended by the Securities and Exchange Act (No. 5) B.E. 2559 (2016), stipulates that criminal offenses under the provisions of the said Act may be subject to civil sanctions against the offender.  

Details of civil sanctions and associated procedures are available at: https://www.sec.or.th/EN/pages/lawandregulations/civilpenalty.aspx