Former Thai prosecutors sentenced to prison for alleged cover-up of Red Bull heir’s deadly crash

Vorayuth "Boss" Yoovidhya, whose grandfather co-founded energy drink company Red Bull, walks to get in a car as he leaves a house in London, on April 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

BANGKOK — A Thai court convicted and sentenced on Tuesday two former prosecutors in connection with an alleged cover-up of a 2012 Ferrari crash involving an heir to the Red Bull energy drink fortune that killed a police officer.

Former Deputy Attorney General Nate Naksuk and former prosecutor Chainarong Sangthongaram were sentenced to three and two years, respectively, for abuse of power to help an individual avoid prosecution, said the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases in Bangkok.

They were among eight people charged with conspiring to alter the recorded speed of the Ferrari driven by Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya to help him evade a speeding charge. The rest, including former Police Chief Gen. Somyot Poompanmoung, were acquitted due to a lack of evidence linking them to the cover-up, the court said on Tuesday.

However, the court ordered all eight to be detained pending an appeal, according to the court statement, which didn’t provide further details. They were later released on bail, local media reported.

Vorayuth escaped justice by fleeing abroad in a case widely viewed as an example of how the rich and well-connected enjoy impunity in Thailand.

He is the grandson of the late Chaleo Yoovidhya, one of the creators of the globally famous Red Bull brand. Forbes magazine last year listed the Yoovidhya family as Thailand’s richest with an estimated net worth of US$36 billion.

Police have said Vorayuth smashed his Ferrari into the back of a police officer’s motorbike around dawn on a major Bangkok road in September 2012. The officer was flung from the bike and died at the scene. Vorayuth drove home and was later arrested. Medical tests showed traces of alcohol and cocaine in his bloodstream, according to police.

Vorayuth avoided further legal action by consistently failing to meet with prosecutors, while continuing for years to live a jet-set life. By the time prosecutors finally issued an arrest warrant in April 2017, Vorayuth had fled abroad.

His case has been marked by numerous delays in the investigative and judicial processes, running down the clock on most of the charges involving the hit-and-run death of the officer. There is a single charge left of reckless driving causing death, which expires under the statute of limitations in 2027.

Jintamas Saksornchai, The Associated Press