The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) has filed charges and revoked the auditing license of STARK, an auditor employed by Deloitte.

The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) has filed charges and revoked the auditing license of a capital market auditor for failing to comply with auditing standards, facilitating fraud, and manipulating financial statements at STARK and its subsidiaries.

On March 31, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) against Mr. Nantawat Samruanhan, a capital market auditor at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Chaiyos Audit Co., Ltd. (Deloitte), after discovering that his work as the auditor of STARK and its subsidiaries did not comply with auditing standards. This was found to be a contributing factor to fraud and financial statement manipulation within STARK and its subsidiaries. The SEC also considered revoking Mr. Samruanhan's approval as a capital market auditor for six years due to serious non-compliance with overall auditing standards.

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on July 6, 2566, the SEC filed a complaint against Stark Corporation Public Company Limited (STARK), along with 10 former directors and executives, with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) for allegedly colluding in or allowing the inclusion of false statements in Stark's and its subsidiaries' accounts and documents between 2564 and 2565 to deceive individuals, and for disclosing financial statements in the prospectus and draft prospectus that are believed to have been manipulated.

This includes concealing the truth in the STARK bond offering factsheet, which constitutes fraudulent conduct and resulted in the acquisition of assets from the deceived public. This falls under the violation of Section 312 and Section 281/2, paragraph two, in conjunction with Section 89/7 and Section 89/7 in conjunction with Section 89/24, Section 278, Section 281/10 in conjunction with Section 300, Section 306, and Section 315 of the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535 (Securities and Exchange Act) (as applicable).*

The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand) reviewed Mr. Nantawat's work in auditing the financial statements of STARK and its two materially consolidated subsidiaries, Phelps Dodge International (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (PDITL) and Adisorn Songkhla Co., Ltd. (ADS), for the years 2019 to 2021. The review found that the audit work to express an opinion on the consolidated financial statements of STARK and its subsidiaries, as well as STARK's separate financial statements for the years 2019 to 2021, failed to comply with overall auditing standards to a serious degree.

This includes audit assessment and planning, general voucher audits, comparative analysis, adjustment of risk assessments due to material misstatement, and the expression of an opinion in the auditor's report because sufficient and appropriate reliable documentation was not obtained regarding trade receivables and other current receivables, inventory accounts, and revenue and cost of services accounts.

Criminally, non-compliance with the aforementioned auditing standards contributed to fraud at STARK and its subsidiaries, including the manipulation of financial statements. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand) has already filed charges with the DSI (Department of Special Investigation) for fraudulent acts and for colluding in or consenting to the entry of false statements in STARK and its subsidiaries' accounting documents. The SEC considers Mr. Nantawat's actions to be a violation of Section 287 of the Securities and Exchange Act. Therefore, the SEC has filed charges against Mr. Nantawat with the DSI regarding his audit of the 2564 annual financial statements, for the DSI to consider further legal action. This charges result in Mr. Nantawat being disqualified from being an auditor in the capital market.

Administratively, because Mr. Nantawat failed to perform his duties in accordance with overall auditing standards to a serious degree for the audits of STARK and its subsidiaries' annual financial statements from 2562 to 2564, the SEC considered revoking Mr. Nantawat's approval as a capital market auditor for a period of 6 years. However, since Mr. Nantawat's approval as a capital market auditor terminated due to a disqualifying characteristic resulting from an accusation against him by the SEC, the SEC has set a period of 6 years from April 1, 2569, during which time it will not consider his next application for approval as a capital market auditor.

Incidentally, the SEC's accusation is only the beginning of the criminal law enforcement process. Under this process Determining whether a person has broken the law is a step within the investigative authority of the investigating officer. Prosecution of the prosecutor's case as well as the discretion of the Court of Justice, respectively. The SEC will continue to follow the progress of the litigation. and will cooperate fully with relevant agencies To support law enforcement according to the Securities Act in the process after the SEC has made accusations.

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