Samui: Thailand issues arrest warrants for 20 Israelis.

Samui: Thailand issued arrest warrants for 20 Israelis The island of Samui continues a large‐scale operation against foreign control of business and real estate. The investigation focused on companies that could have used Thais as nominee shareholders.

In total, the police examined 12,906 companies. In 8,254 of them foreign shareholders were found, and 875 companies raised suspicions of using nominees.

The investigation concentrated on 61 companies linked to 42 parcels of land and buildings with a total value of about 1.5 billion baht. This involves more than 53 dunams of land.

A total of 60 cases have been opened against 88 people: 26 Thais and 62 foreigners. Warrants have been issued for all 62 foreigners, among whom 20 Israeli citizens, 17 Russians, and 12 French.

On the day of the operation, 27 suspects were detained. One of those detained was the 45‐year‐old Israeli developer Gal Biber.

Police suspect him of using Thai citizens and companies to conceal foreign control of business, as well as of managing activities restricted to foreigners. According to authorities, the corporate structure linked to the Biber family could have been used to operate an international school without a license and to conduct operations with elite villas, including their purchase, construction, sale, and rental.

During the raids, the police seized company documents, accounting records, computers, phones, and digital data. The materials are planned to be used to find other participants in the scheme.

The operation in Samui is already the seventh stage of Thailand’s campaign against hidden foreign ownership of business and land. In the previous six stages, 238 companies and 272 parcels were examined in seven provinces.

In total, 178 warrants have been issued and 91 people detained during the campaign.