# CASE DOSSIER — The Public Record of the STARK Affair
### Background source for "The STARK Files." Compiled from public reporting (SEC Thailand, DSI, Bangkok Post, Nation Thailand, Reuters/Yahoo Finance, Wikipedia), 2023–2025.
*This file supplies the people, the timeline, and the aftermath — the human story around the numbers in Evidence Files #1 and #2. Figures from public reporting may differ slightly between sources; ranges are given where they do.*

---

## 1. What STARK was supposed to be
Stark Corporation PCL (SET: **STARK**) marketed itself as Southeast Asia's rising champion in **electrical wire and cable**, built around **Phelps Dodge International (Thailand)** and **Thai Cable International**, with expansion into Vietnam (TPC, DVN). For two years it looked like one of the Thai market's great growth stories — strong reported profits, an ambitious European acquisition, and eager bond investors.

It was almost entirely an illusion.

## 2. How it got listed — the backdoor
STARK never IPO'd in the normal way. It entered the market through a **reverse (backdoor) listing**:
- The vehicle was **Siam Inter Multimedia PCL (SMM/SIMM)** — a small, cash-poor **media company** already listed on the SET.
- Around **2019**, SMM issued a large block of new shares (reported ≈**฿12.9bn**) to the group of **Vonnarat Tangkaravakoon**, making that group the majority owner.
- SMM then **sold off its original media business** and **renamed itself Stark Corporation**, with Phelps Dodge as the core asset (Phelps Dodge's troubled Thai operation had been acquired for ≈฿3bn).
- A media shell became a "cable giant" without ever facing IPO-level scrutiny. 🔎 *Backdoor listings are legal — but they're a recurring feature of accounting-fraud cases because they sidestep the diligence of a fresh IPO.*

## 3. The cast (suspects & roles)
| Person / Entity | Role at STARK | Public allegation |
|---|---|---|
| **Chanin Yensudchai** (ชนินทร์ เย็นสุดใจ) | President / de-facto mastermind | Named ringleader; directed financial-statement manipulation. Fled to Hong Kong then **Dubai**; **deported to Thailand June 2024**; faces ~6 charges incl. money laundering, forgery, fraud, embezzlement. Reportedly moved ≈฿8bn to the UK. |
| **Vonnarat Tangkaravakoon** (วนรัชต์ ตั้งคารวคุณ) | Director; **largest shareholder** | Eldest son of **Prachak Tangkaravakoon**, chairman of **TOA Paint** (SE Asia's biggest paint maker). Charged; **bail rejected** (damages too large). Pursued by creditors for repayment. |
| **Sattha (Sathar) Chantrasettalert** (ศรัทธา จันทรเศรษฐเลิศ) | CFO, Company Secretary, Director | **Admitted manipulating** the financial statements — said he acted on **Chanin's orders.** |
| **Prakorn Makjumroen** | CEO, Director | Among those charged over false disclosures. |
| **Chinawat Assavapokee** | Stock-market specialist | Implicated alongside the above. |
| **Asia Pacific Drilling Engineering Co., Ltd.** | Shareholder-related company | The **conduit** through which cash was round-tripped to fake customer collections and fake supplier prepayments. |
| **Phelps Dodge Int'l (Thailand) / Thai Cable / Adisorn Songkhla** | Operating subsidiaries | Where the fictitious sales and services were booked. |

## 4. The money machine — fake numbers → real cash from investors
The purpose of the fiction was to look healthy enough to **raise money**:
- **June 2022 — ฿5.58bn private placement.** New shares were sold to institutional investors (reported to include **Credit Suisse** and **HSBC**), nominally to help fund the LEONI deal. Authorities later alleged the proceeds had **already been spent** and that this was concealed from investors.
- **Bonds — ≈฿9.2bn across five series.** STARK239A and STARK249A (**฿2,241M**) defaulted first; that triggered **cross-default** on STARK245A, STARK255A and STARK242A (**฿6,957M**). Bond representatives: Kasikornbank and Asia Plus Securities.
- A court later ordered STARK to **pay ฿6.9bn to bondholders.**

## 5. The unravelling — timeline
- **23 Feb 2022:** **Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Jaiyos** signs a **clean (unqualified) opinion** on STARK's FY2021 statements — the same numbers (a claimed **+฿2,795M profit** and **+฿6,591M equity**) that PwC would later restate to a **(฿5,989M) loss** and **negative ฿2,845M equity**. The 56-1 One Report touts revenue up ~61% and receivables up ~161% as proof of booming demand. *(See Exhibit #4 — Claimed vs. Actual.)*
- **May 2022:** Announces a **€560M deal to buy Germany's LEONI** automotive-cable business — its first big move outside Asia. Raises the ฿5.58bn PP to help fund it.
- **Dec 2022:** Abruptly **backs out of the LEONI deal.** LEONI demands **≈€608M** compensation. First public sign of trouble.
- **Feb 2023:** New auditor (PwC) flags abnormal entries to the **Audit Committee (24 Feb)**; special investigation begins. STARK repeatedly **delays filing** its 2022 results.
- **Apr–May 2023:** Filing finally appears showing **restated losses and negative equity**; **bond default** and cross-default crystallise; **SEC** steps in. Share price **collapses ~99%.**
- **16 Jun 2023:** PwC (which had replaced Deloitte as auditor) issues the **Disclaimer of Opinion** and the multi-year **restatement.**
- **Jun 2023:** **SEC files criminal complaints** with the **DSI** against STARK and former directors/execs for disseminating **false or misleading information** (DSI Special Case No. **57/2566**).
- **2023–2024:** Chanin flees abroad, is **arrested in Dubai** and **deported to Bangkok (Jun 2024)**; Vonnarat arrested, **bail denied.**
- **2024–2025:** Criminal trial proceeds to **witness examination**; on **18 Dec 2025** the South Bangkok Civil Court certifies a **class action** for investors. *As of mid-2026 the case remains in active litigation — no final verdict.*

## 6. The damage
- **SEC's core fraud/damage figure: ≈฿14.7bn**, directly affecting **4,704 shareholders.**
- **≈11,000 individual shareholders** joined the SEC's complaint.
- Bondholders exposed on **≈฿9.2bn** of principal.
- Broader estimates of total economic damage (including lost market capitalisation of tens of billions of baht) run from **฿37bn to ฿100bn+** depending on the source (market cap fell ฿37bn+ from late Feb 2023; DSI has cited figures up to ~฿100bn).
- STARK became shorthand in Thailand for **retail-investor devastation and corporate-governance failure** — frequently compared to Enron as a teaching case.

## 7. Why it matters (the lesson for a due-diligence analyst)
STARK passed every *surface* test — audited statements, a Big-name PP, listed bonds, a marquee European acquisition. Yet the **cash flow statement told the truth the income statement hid**: a "growing" company that never generated a baht of operating cash, kept alive only by selling securities to the public, with cash quietly circling out to and back from a shareholder-related party. Every red flag in Evidence File #1 was visible *before* the collapse to anyone who read past the headline profit.

---
### Primary documents (in this folder)
- STARK **56-1 One Report 2564** (`2564/STARKT1.PDF`) — management's own growth narrative and the claimed FY2021 figures.
- STARK **FY2021 financial statements + Deloitte clean opinion** (`2564/`) — the "Claimed" set.
- STARK **FY2022 financial statements + PwC disclaimer + restated FY2021** (`2565/`) — the "Actual" set.

### Sources (public reporting)
- SEC Thailand — criminal complaint against five persons (STARK). https://www.sec.or.th/EN/Pages/News_Detail.aspx?SECID=11165
- Nation Thailand — "How the wheels came off Stark." https://www.nationthailand.com/business/trading-investment/40039046
- Bangkok Post — "Stark told to pay B6.9bn to bondholders." https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2596863/stark-told-to-pay-b6-9bn-to-bondholders
- Bangkok Post — "Stark executive Chanin faces 6 charges." https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2816896/stark-executive-chanin-faces-6-charges
- Bangkok Post — "Stark faces 11,000 shareholder complaints." https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2606861/stark-faces-11-000-shareholder-complaints
- Khaosod English — "Thailand Thanks UAE Sending Key Suspect in $402 Million STARK Fraud Case." https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/2024/06/23/thailand-thanks-uae-sending-key-suspect-in-402-million-stark-fraud-case/
- Yahoo Finance / Bloomberg — "A 99% Stock Crash and Shock Default Raise Alarm in Thailand." https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/99-stock-crash-surprise-default-035011952.html
- Wikipedia — "Stark Corporation." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stark_Corporation
- DSI — update on the STARK case (Special Case No. 57/2566). https://www.dsi.go.th/en/Detail/e34fb66360cc0cc2186a1951f5aab66f
